Lumos Invictus
by BladedDragon
Summary: An amazon and a necromancer. Two very different people from different walks of life. What will happen to them as they quest to defeat the evils threatening the world of Sanctuary and pick up some others along the way?
1. Chapter 1

+-Author's Note: Hi everybody I just wanted to say that this was a story I had posted here before some time ago and it's taken me forever but I've decided I want to finish it so I've revamped it. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo, the only things I own are my own character names.

The Call

Chyemme

It had been many years since I had felt this kind of childish emotion. I was so angry I could hardly contain myself. My mother was once again treating me like the child I was not. We stood, she and I, in the temple that was our home. It was a sacred place that honored Zerae, the amazon goddess of lightning. We were arguing again, it was nothing unusual as of late. Ever since the dreams started, I suspect I must have been acting differently.

I had been having the same dream for many nights now; I couldn't recall a night I'd been without it. It was always the same, a calling to the West. In my dreams I was always transported to a lush, forest-filled land. The place really wasn't that unlike my own beloved homeland, however there were many mountains. I found myself every night traveling to a rustic tavern high in what appeared to be a mountain pass; things seemed ordinary enough at first. People everywhere were going on about nothing. Then I would see a man who was aloof in his own corner. He spoke to no one, however he watched everything. I never saw his face, for he wore a hooded brown robe, but just his posture gave away his great fatigue. He was so weak; he had trouble holding his own sword when a few of the boisterous tavern folk challenged him. Just when I thought the man would collapse, events would always take a horrifying turn. The sword would begin to glow unnaturally and suddenly rifts that I could only guess that lead to the infernal realms (judging by their spawn) would open, spilling forth demons of all kinds. The slaughter was swift and terrible, none but one man survived. An older man, he had been smoking a pipe, but was hiding in a corner. For some reason, the demons always spared him…. The man in the robe would them turn and leave without a word, but he beckoned the survivor to follow. As they left, the tavern would burst into a fire that engulfed everything. After seeing this, I would then see the face of a woman with long wavy hair that I didn't recognize. She simply said the word "hurry".

As plagued though my sleep was, I wasn't able to avoid it. Therefore lack of sleep couldn't possibly account for the irritability that was building within me as my mother stood before me yelling like nothing I had ever heard before. Like I said, arguments between us were commonplace now, however most would end with my mother merely shaking her head or forgiving me. This time it appeared that I may have actually made her mad enough to severely punish me.

"CHYEMME DIANTHIAS! YOU HAD NO RIGHT, I REPEAT, NO RIGHT TO ENTER THAT TOURNAMENT!" she thundered at me, bringing many of my temple sisters out to see what was causing all the commotion. Even the stone of the floor seemed to shake as she shouted. I stood in silence, the only amazon present whom wore armor, not the least bit ashamed of what I had done and waiting for her to yell herself to exhaustion like usual.

"YOUR ACTIONS SHAME ME! THEY SHAME YOUR FAMILY AND THIS TEMPLE! DAUGHTER, I MIGHT HAVE OVERLOOKED YOUR PREVIOUS ESCAPADES, BUT THIS…THIS IS UNFORGIVEABLE! YOU KNOW OUR LAWS AND OUR CODE! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?" she bellowed, coming to a halt in her ranting at last.

I said nothing at first. My mother was, of course, referring to my participation in our annual battle competition held in the main square. Our tournament was to determine the strongest of our warriors. The select few who placed were eligible to train with King Karcheus the Watcher, the master of ice who resided in the Hall of Mirrors upon Mt. Karcheus. Every year though, the champion would face our Queen, as their final challenger. If an amazon defeated our Queen, not only would she be chosen to train with the Ice King, but she also had the right to the throne. That was our system; our strongest warrior was our monarch. I had entered such a tournament, although participation by priestesses was strictly forbidden. They were allowed only to fight in defense of the temple. I however, was never initiated as a priestess, so I didn't consider myself one. My mother, the High Priestess of Zerae, was just one of many High Priestesses in our family line. She had brought me up in the ways of the temple, expecting me to carry on the family tradition. It was all fine at first, but slowly I began to question her way of life. I had arrived long ago, at the conclusion that it was not my way. I felt in my heart, I was meant for something else. I found that something else in battle and my mother simply couldn't accept this. Tradition is the core of our culture.

I had won our tournament and defeated our Queen, Chelsea. I was just as shocked as anyone, considering I had taught myself to fight by watching our warriors as they trained daily in our arenas. I had done this in secret of course, and this competition was my first. I hadn't expected to place, let alone win. The strange part was that it felt so right and every move I made empowered me against our Queen. I had been offered the crown, as was promised, but I had declined to the surprise of all. I think I was the first to ever refuse, however I held our Queen in too high a regard to simply take her place. In addition, I knew in my heart that being queen wasn't my place either. I had to wonder what leading our people must have been like, but I wasn't up to the task. Perhaps the real reason I had entered, I thought to myself, was to see if I was up to the challenge. I knew somehow that very soon a journey would soon begin and I wanted to see if I was prepared. Queen Chelsea fought my runner-up and kept her crown.

Naturally, I was the talk of the tribe and it hadn't taken my mother long to receive the news. I was now a primary topic of gossip among our people. I was sort of beginning to feel like an outcast in my own homeland. Everywhere I went people stared and whispered. No one would explain this to me and in fact, many had started to act strangely towards me. It was almost as if they were afraid of me or in awe. I couldn't tell which.

I looked my mother in the eye. It was time to confess. "Mother, you know I only wish to make you proud of me. I did not mean to dishonor you or the temple. Surely you know that I did not take the crown? Why does this displease you so much?" I tried to ask calmly.

Anger flashed behind my mother's eyes, however she didn't yell this time."It angers me because you know the rules Chyemme! You should never have even considered entering that tournament! It's for warriors, you're a priestess! As much as I want to forgive you, your actions do require punishment this time!" she snapped.

I sighed. "You do not have to punish me, for my conduct broke no law. I am not a priestess of Zerae," I answered.

My mother had been muttering to herself and stopped cold when I had spoken these words. "What did you say?" she asked, doing a double-take.

"I said that I am not a priestess, for I was never initiated as one. I am too young by the standards. Therefore I have not come into conflict with any of our codes by joining into the tournament," I repeated softly.

My mother stared at me in disbelief. "Of course you are a priestess! You were raised as one! Even though you aren't old enough to receive the title yet, it is still what is expected of you! It has been since the day you were born as my child!"

"It is not my place. You know it and I know it. Apparently so does everyone else. I hear them whisper about it, mother. Queen Chelsea has given me a great honor, why can't you be happy for me? I have chosen my own path. I have prayed and this is what I believe I should be doing. I know this disappoints you, and I am truly sorry. I also wish to tell you that I will be leaving for the West in a few days. I have consulted you and Priestess Danri of Athulua about my dreams and I have determined this is where I must start. I will seek the meaning of this dream, and I believe that it is urgent," I said with every feeling in my heart.

For a moment, my mother's face became unreadable. She looked furious, confused, and upset all at the same time as she took in what I had said. I hadn't wanted to hurt her, but the truth had to be told. My mother closed her eyes and then spoke slowly.

"Daughter your dreams are still as unclear to you as they are to me. My innersight shows me all that you see in your sleep. You will go to the west chasing shadows. The Westmarch isn't as safe as it was years ago. It's quite perilous now, and if you go, you might not come back. Daughter, I do not wish you to die in some distant land when you go there firstly, in pursuit of that which is not certain. I will sanction no such voyage, and if you insist on going I will have to put you under house arrest for your own safety. It seems you are the only one receiving such visions, and under normal circumstances many of our sisters often have the same visions about a disturbance. Besides, what concern is it of ours what happens in the west?"

I couldn't believe that my mother had just spoken those words.

"I can't believe you, mother. What concern of ours? It is our every concern and you of all people should know this. The amazon sisterhood swore a vow long ago to uphold justice, defend the innocent, and combat the forces of darkness. If innocents are suffering, even in a land as far away as Scosglen shouldn't we still help them? It is our way. Something stirs in the west; can you not feel it too? I know you do. Besides, the Rogue sisterhood has long been friendly to our people. If it is the matter of me finding a safe haven on the mainland that troubles you, I could go there. I'm sure I'd be welcomed," I protested.

My mother grimaced for a moment and for the briefest measure of time I thought I saw fear behind her eyes. "Chyemme, I know you mean well, but too much is shrouded by mist for us to take any action. The rogues would have sent word to us if they believed anything was wrong. I must attend to the meal preparations for after tonight's prayers. I want you to join us. I'll send Andrea to summon you when we are ready. We'll discuss this more later," she announced, suddenly dismissing the issue.

I sighed. It was too important for her to dismiss. "But mother—"

"I will speak no more of the matter," she said curtly, before leaving the room.

After my conversation with my mother I decided to go up to my room for a while, to think. Was it just that my mother worried about my safety? Even if I did die, what would she have to be ashamed of? Amazon sisters that fell in battle, although sorely missed, were honored greatly. And defeating our Queen was no small task. I had proven capable of taking care of myself just fine. I sat on my bed for a while pondering what I should do. It was clear that my mother was not going to change her mind, and yet I felt the calling as strong as ever. It was becoming more and more urgent. So urgent in fact, that even now I was beginning to grow restless. I couldn't delay much longer, and the mysterious woman's voice was echoing in my mind. "Hurry!"

Looking out my open window frame into the thick forest canopy of our rainforest home, I finally reached a decision. The calling could not wait. I had to go, with, or without my mother's approval, and before she put me under quarantine. I had no idea where to go, that was true, so after a while, I settled on just getting away from the isles first. I would have to travel light. I grabbed only my best traveling clothes, my sash, a leather pack, and a ceremonial javelin that was leaned up against my wall. I estimated I had only a short time before they would realize I was gone. Leaving the temple wasn't difficult, I just simply walked out. The sisters guarding the door didn't know that I wasn't supposed to leave and merely nodded to me. Once safely outside, I started into a light jog and disappeared into the thick forest.

I wanted to be alone; I wanted to go to a place where the other sisters wouldn't think to look for me. Amazons were excellent trackers and I wouldn't get very far if I left a clear trail. This meant I would definitely have to leave the area, for many of my sisters patrolled these woods. The only place that I could think of that would meet all my criteria was the Woods of the Banished, a deep part of the jungle on the northwest coast of the island. This particular part of the isle had been barred to the sisterhood over a decade ago. The reason for which it had been barred was mostly unknown, expect to those in high positions. Rumor had it that the place was home to many foul creatures, including rogue amazons. However, I wasn't superstitious enough to be scared by mere tales, so I continued on my path there.

It was late afternoon by the time I reached the borders to our land; already I could feel the humidity rise to an intense level. This part of the forest wasn't cleared of undergrowth, so the going was slow. No animals were present, which I thought was strange. Usually at least a Macaw or two could be seen anywhere in the forest. Intrigued by this observation, I tuned my innersight to seek out any moving life force. I could only find my own. As odd as this was, I kept walking. I could have sworn though, that I was being followed. A slight movement out of the corner of my eye, or a rustle in the underbrush had me looking over my shoulder frequently. This was a foreign part of my homeland; caution would be a wise thing to exercise. Other than that, I found the walk through the forest quite enjoyable. The exercise and the fresh air were helping me to clear my head and reduce my stress.

The Felph Flowers were particularly lovely. Felph flowers were deep magenta in color and had five, tapering petals as soft as feathers. I would've guessed they smelled nice, but no one could tell for sure. The Felph, in addition to being immensely beautiful, were highly poisonous. Breathing in its pollen or touching its pulp was enough to send a grown lion into seizures. Getting a good whiff of one could knock a human unconscious for a few days. The Felph flower was highly prized among my people; our warriors sometimes used them to poison their javelins in wartime. I grinned. This was a perfect opportunity to gather some, because they were not yet in full bloom.

I set to work collecting the flowers, and placing them in a leather pouch at my waist. Maybe they'd come in handy where I was going. It was not long before my gathering brought me to the bank of a small river. The water still flowed with the smell of salt, so I assumed it spilled into the ocean. I could see small fish in the water also, with glinting silver scales. I decided to go spear fishing later, just to stock up on food. I continued my way upstream picking more flowers until my pouch and most of my sash was full. I had just turned to leave when my innersight alerted me to something moving nearby. I fell completely silent, and sure enough, I began to hear noises, mostly grunts, squeaks, and high-pitched utterances. I focused my innersight, which confirmed my hunch.

A small band of pale blue, troll-like creatures with ugly black hair and primitive bone and animal hide armor were massed around something on the ground and poking at it with razor sharp nails. I rounded the bend quietly to get a better look. The demons, Carvers by name, were only about waist high, so I could see slightly over top of them and what they were curiously huddled around.

It was a lump of black cloth, from what I could see. I was just about to dismiss the incident, when I realized that a faint life force was coming from that huddle! Whatever it was within the huddle was alive! I waited for a few moments before the carvers shifted around the heap of cloth to reveal the shape of a human being. This unfortunate person was lying face down in the sand wearing a ratty amount of black cloth and had purely white hair. One of the Carvers extended a clawed finger to poke, or stab rather, at the unconscious person, which I made out to be male. Who ever he was, if he was already unconscious, a stab wound might very well kill him.

Just as the Carver was about to strike, I sprung from behind a large tree, ceremonial javelin poised to strike, and gave a loud war cry. The Carvers, not very brave creatures unless they were in large groups, jumped in fear before retreating hastily back into the forest issuing loud cries. I fell silent and listened to their incoherent chatter fade into the rainforest. It was safe, so I quickly moved to the injured man. I feared for the worst when I turned him over.

His face was ashen and his skin was tremendously pale. He had almost no color. He was ice cold to the touch and had several deep bruises and wounds; some of which were obviously infected to a fair extent. He had blood splattered all along his drenched and ratty robe and in his snow-colored hair. The dried blood on his face reminded me of crimson war paint and made him look much older. My guess was that under all the dirt and grime he looked maybe one or two years older than me, at most.

I lowered my head to listen for breath. I was both amazed and relieved to hear a very weak inhale and equally labored exhale. The man's chest was moving, but just barely. He would make it for now, but I had to get him to a safer place before I could treat him. What had happened to this man? He was truly lucky to be alive. If I had not walked by, I severely doubt anyone else would have found him. My current problem went from escaping the islands to now finding a place I could take him. I guessed I would have to make do with just a small clearing or such. As I went to pick him up, I found myself gazing at the young man's face intently. My innersight gave a smaller flicker of jumbled information that I only briefly understood. Although he was weak, this man gave off a powerful aura. He was a survivor. There was also something highly magical about him. He was most definitely a mage of some kind; no other class gave off a feel like this. There was also something I didn't fully understand. It was a feeling of darkness. None of the mages I had even seen or been told of felt like this to amazon innersight. It was strange though, for something about this darkness was almost beautiful…. A sudden thought occurred to me, as I picked him up, carrying him on my back. Maybe this would explain my calling to the west. Perhaps, since he most certainly wasn't from here, that if this man recovered well, he could even take me there. I sighed. If only.

I had begun on a route back into the forest when suddenly I heard a noise from the trees. I looked up, half expecting an attack of some sort. It was only a Toucan with a large, brightly colored beak. Just to be sure, I sat the man I had been carrying down gently, so I could have a look around. I walked a few paces in each direction, and was about to assume my environment was safe. I heard it before I saw it. A spear soared right by my left ear and embedded itself into a tree behind me. I turned around just in time to snatch another out of the air before it would have struck my neck. My innersight quickly revealed the source of this attack. Three women crouched in the bushes behind and beside me. All three rose from their hiding places, wearing red leather armor covered in brightly colored feathers and placed spears in my direction. Each wore an ornate headdress of multicolored feathers, a symbol of Kethryes, the amazon god of seasons, retaliation, and vengeance. Kethryes was the patron god of rogue amazons.

The three newcomers stood more or less in a triangle formation. The middle amazon seemed slightly surprised as she broke the silence.

"Well, well, what have we here? Looks like a temple sister," she said eyeing my ceremonial javelin and clothing with sarcasm. "Aren't you a long way from your altar, nun? And with what, a—" She suddenly stopped speaking as she gazed at the man I had rescued.

The other two readied their spears as if any word I might have said could strike them dead. "Necromancer!" The lead hissed and pulled a bronze dagger from her belt.

At first I thought it had been me that they were poising the spears at, but I saw the man behind me reflecting in the amazons' eyes. The lead seemed to be focusing on a strange tattoo on his left palm that I hadn't noticed before. It was a dagger, with black liquid covering and dripping from a majority of the blade. At the top of the dagger's handle sat a small skull. All were signs of dark arcane magic. I knew little about Necromancer magics and even less about their culture. To my people, they were just a dark whisper in the night, a tale brothers used to frighten their sisters. To much of the known world, Necromancers were rumored to be sadistic, devilish beings that powered their craft with death and poisons. Rumors even said that they were capable of raising the dead back to life. There had been accounts of necromancers so powerful that they could raise whole undead armies, but that was just Horadric lore, and took place over 100 years ago. As if their powers over death were not frightening enough, necromancers were also supposed to be able to conjure some of the deadliest poisons known to man with just their bare hands.

Oddly enough, even though this man was a necromancer, he didn't seem very intimidating to me. Right now he was helpless. And even if he was a dark mage, I knew nothing else about him. It wasn't my place to judge. The lead renegade regained her voice as I stepped in front of the injured man.

"A strange sight indeed. A priestess and a necromancer, here of all places. Both of you are trespassing on our lands. Do you know the penalty for sisters of Athulua and Zerae who enter our domain uninvited? Death!" she hissed.

I wasn't frightened and it showed. "Really? Is that so? If it is then why have you taken so long to attack me? If my hunch is correct, you three have been following me since I entered."

The lead Amazon sighed as a scarlet red feather shifted from her headdress into her eyes. "We're not killers if we can help it, just like you, priestess. Occasionally people do get lost and manage to find their way out shortly thereafter. But when someone comes as far in as you did, picking flowers of all things, you obviously know where you are and don't care. That kind of apathy, of disrespect, will get you killed. And unless my eyes deceive me, which is extremely rare, you look old enough to know better!"

"So what are you going to do?" I asked them uncertainly. Rumor had it that rogue amazons had once been a part of our tribe not long ago. But something, or someone had caused them to split. Oddly, only warriors chose to leave, or at least that's what I'd heard. After knowing all that I that I did and seeing these three acting the way they were, they were obviously guarding something here. Something important and I had unwittingly ventured too close.

"Like I said before, the penalty for trespassing is death! No exceptions! If I just simply let you leave you'd undoubtedly come back. You don't seem the type to me that can take a hint. I mean we were purposely making noise for you to hear us, in the hopes that you'd leave."

"I meant no disrespect sisters, I was seeking an undetectable way off of this island, and I just intended to pass through. That was until I found my friend here," I said gesturing to the almost lifeless necromancer on the ground.

The Amazon growled and stepped forward, her dagger in attack position while her two comrades flanked her with their spears. "Do you have any idea what you're messing with? Obviously not or you'd have just let the Carvers take him. My guess is that when he wakes up he'll kill us all, or at least try to. I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen," she affirmed and took another step forward.

I looked at the man on the ground again. It was odd, the feeling that washed over me. No matter who he was, or what he'd done, he was under my protection now, especially while he was as helpless as a newborn babe. Then again, a babe had more fight in it than he did at the moment, seeing as it could move.

"Do you have no honor? You're going to kill a man you don't even know while he lies defenseless on the ground?" I challenged.

The rogue scout locked her cocoa-colored eyes on mine. "I don't have to know him! Just knowing what he is makes it reason enough for me! And by the looks of things he hasn't got long anyway, I'm doing him a favor."

I grabbed my spear tightly and raised it to an attack position. "You'll have to go through me first," I challenged.

"I was just about to tell you that you're next, priestess," she hissed and lunged for me.

Quick as lightening I grabbed her wrist from the outside and rolled mine over it while pushing on her upper arm with my other hand. She followed the motion all the way to the ground where I kneed her in the stomach before tossing her aside. The other two were already moving; I had just enough time to vertically parry my spear against one of theirs, and snapped it to the opposite side to block the other. I then upturned the butt of my spear and caught the one on the right under the chin, making her soar backwards. I hadn't however, been in time to block the last one and the razor-sharp edge of her spearhead grazed my upper arm, right across a pressure point, making me drop my spear in reflex. She tried to sweep my feet out from under me, but I jumped. Following up on the motion I did a snapping front kick to her chest. She folded her spear over it, and it absorbed most of the shock, but nevertheless she still flew back a fair ways.

I took this opportunity to retrieve my spear, kicking it up off the ground and into my hands. I stabbed at her and she blocked it. Then we began trading blows with the shafts of our spears, making it look like a staff fight. She went left, I blocked to the right. This continued more or less for about a minute, before I finally gained the upper hand as I shoved my spear against hers, forcing her own weapon towards her throat. In close a proximity as we were, I had no trouble head-butting her. This stunned us both a little temporarily but I recovered first, and jammed my spearhead against her throat.

"Back down!" I commanded harshly, pressing the point enough to draw blood from her neck.

"I've never seen a priestess fight like you," she admitted a little tensely.

"That's because she's obviously not a priestess," came the voice from the first, whom had taken back her feet. She made to attack me again, and I quickly whipped my spear around in a backspin, however she blocked it with her arm. Grabbing my spear, she tried to pull me closer to her, within reach of her dagger.

It was time to quit playing games. I focused on all the training I had received in the ways of Zerae, and channeled electric energy into the spear. Seeing as it was metal, she received a strong shock that knocked her over again. The one that I had just cornered, now behind me, took an opportunity to strike again and jabbed her spear, narrowly missing my head. I grabbed the tip of her spear, pulled her off balance, grabbed her head, and then threw her over my shoulder down on top of her other two comrades.

"That's far enough," yet another voice whispered in my ear, as I felt something sharp press against my mid back.

I cringed. It was all over. For me and for the man whose name I'd never know now. I stiffened and waited for the blow, which, surprisingly didn't come.

"Drop your weapon," the voice instructed.

"No," I said firmly. If I was going to die I wasn't going to die defenseless.

The voice laughed quietly. "Defiant to the last. I like that. I'm impressed. You fought this hard to save a man you don't even know. That in itself is worthy of honor. However, I've been expecting you. I'm not going to kill you or your friend, so drop your weapon."

Strange. Definitely strange. But then again, if this person had wanted to kill me they'd have done it by now. Especially since no one, nether I nor the other three had noticed her coming. I released my weapon and heard it clang softly on the forest underbrush.

"Take it, Teera," the voice instructed to yet someone else. Good grief, how many of them were there? Was I truly so inexperienced not to hear or feel these people coming up behind me? Something hard hit the back of my head and I fell to the ground in pain. I was eye level with the necromancer, and in moments went just as unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo 2 in any way shape or form, I'm only writing this for my own amusement and the entertainment of others. All I own are my own character names. Everything else is copyright to Blizzard Entertainment.

~Also I would like to thank my sister IceCrystal2 for proof-reading this for me.

Chapter 2

Awakenings

Chyemme's POV

I opened my eyes and instantly wished I hadn't. The light, dim as it was, exploded in front of my eyes and so did the pain. I was seeing stars that had nothing to do with innersight. I sat up, putting my head in my hands. Where was I? What happened? I cringed as I glanced around carefully, with my hand over my eyes to help shield them from what to me was obnoxious brightness. I was sitting on a mattress on the floor, in a small room covered by thick straw thatching. The room was bare save for a small table beside me to the right. It was between me and another mattress across from me. On it laid the man with pure white hair, the necromancer.

Apparently, he lay sleeping, though he had been thoroughly cleaned up by someone. The ratty robe was gone and his chest was bare save for the many dressings. I could see that blood had already soaked through some of them. Good lord, what had this man gone through? I was amazed that he was still alive.

On a brighter note, I realized that his breathing had improved dramatically as had his color. His skin was still a pale color, but looking him over, I realized that was his natural complexion. And as a positive, he was moving. He was tossing restlessly around in his sleep. However, sweat was dripping from his forehead. It looked like he had a fever, but even that was a step up from the way he had been.

Inexplicably, I put my feet on the ground and shakily made my way over to him. I put my hand on his brow, feeling the incredible heat. He was definitely sick; my guess was from the infected wounds. He murmured something illegible, and he wrenched himself away from me, twisted in pain. I felt sorry for him. I took the edge of the sheet and began wiping the sweat from his forehead. It was strange seeing him up close all clean. I smiled, though the expression he wore was sour, he had the most angelic-looking face. He was quite frankly, handsome. I leaned in to get better look and to listen to his breath.

It was that instant that he opened the deepest emerald green eyes I had ever seen and locked them on me. Startled, I had time to squeak before I was roughly seized around the throat as he suddenly shot bolt upright. He started squeezing unbelievably tight.

"What the hell?" he growled his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Let go!" I managed to choke out. "Now!" I grabbed the inside of his wrist and squeezed, though I didn't have to exert much pressure because he had a bandage there and I must have hit a wound. He abruptly relented his attack on me and grabbed his arm in pain. He looked at it, then at me.

"Who the hell are you! And where am I!" he snarled.

"My name is Chyemme. I found you in the forest up on a riverbank. You'd washed up there I guess. As far as I know, we're on the Amazonian isle of Skovas," I answered.

"Skovas?" he grunted. "How the hell-Trag `Oul damn it!" he swore loudly and got up, trying to kick at the bed. He swayed dangerously, so I hastily pulled my arm around his shoulders and hoisted him up. He didn't like that at all, he nimbly pulled out from under me grabbing my arm in a vice grip like he had done to my throat. He was surprisingly strong for someone who was so slender and so ill.

"Don't touch me! Don't you ever touch me!" he hissed and torked my hand sending pain shooting up my arm.

I twisted out of his grip. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I snapped, "I was only trying to help you."

"I don't need help, especially from someone stupid enough to not know where they are," he spat.

"Yes, you do," I emphasized. "You're really sick right now, you can barely stand. And if it weren't for me you wouldn't be here at all!" I insisted.

He quickly backed away from me. "You're telling me that you saved my life? Not likely," he huffed.

"Why wouldn't you believe me? It's true," I added.

"Because I save me, that's the way it's always been. You aren't the one who kept Mephisto's demons off me. You aren't the one that survived the shipwreck, the sea, and Trag `Oul only knows what else! I did that."

"Mephisto's demons? Just where exactly are you from? And you think way too highly of yourself! Like I said, if I hadn't found you when I did, you would have been dinner for the Carvers! And if they didn't kill you, the daughters of Kethryes would have! They tried to kill both of us, I protected you," I insisted obstinately.

"You, protect me? You're barely taller than a troll to me. You don't look much better either," he laughed.

"We neither do you, the way you're all banged up. You're the one that took a beating, not me. If you were so tough then you wouldn't be here with me having this conversation," I replied, irked.

He looked at me deadly serious. His green eyes almost glowed in the dim light. "Don't you ever mock me, Amazon. I have powers you can't even comprehend. And I'm not afraid to use them on people who piss me off. Especially annoying little bitches like you."

"What did you say to me? By Zerae, I'm beginning to regret going through this mess for you. I stuck my neck out for this?" I groaned. This guy was a total jackass and I hadn't even known him for five minutes.

"That was your choice, not mine. It's not like I owe you anything." He smirked.

"So you are admitting that I did save your life," I asked, triumphant.

"Well you look like you've been through something; although with the way you are it could be anything. I wouldn't put it past you to be lying. That's what people do, they lie. And if you're hoping for some sort of reward then I guess you're out of luck. You'd be lucky if I just gave you a quick goodbye," he admitted.

"I just want a quick way off of this island!" I announced.

"Why's that? Home a little boring for you?" he asked.

"Why should I even bother to tell you? It's not like you'd care. With a head as thick as yours you probably wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"I told you not to insult me," he said icily and without warning a strange, yellow-green light enveloped his hands like flame. The flame fluttered about unstable but he didn't seem to notice.

I stepped back a few feet, I didn't like the feeling this energy gave off at all. Was he really going to attack me? Here?

"Barbera tee—" he began, and the energy crackled dangerously, but just as suddenly it faded away as he grabbed his side and staggered backwards. Too much too soon I guess. He almost fell over from the recoil.

"I'd help you," I started, "but you've made it perfectly clear that you don't want me here, let alone my help. So I for one think it will be funny to watch you fall straight on your face." I said with a smile.

Indeed he did fall forwards, and barely managed to catch himself on his wounded hands before he fell completely on his stomach. Although I must say, if it hurt he did an excellent job of hiding it.

"What's going on in here? What was that light?" an unidentifiable female voice asked as a rogue Amazon in red ceremonial robes walked in. "Oh, I see both of you are awake. Kara," she called to someone outside, "tell her majesty the news."

That caught my attention immediately. "Your majesty? Do you mean your Queen?" I asked in surprise.

"No, Amazon, she means her pet seagull, what do you think?" the necromancer groaned as he pushed himself onto his knees then hastily stood up. He teetered again.

"Don't push yourself," the Amazon said sternly. "You are still very ill. And if you die, the queen will be most displeased with me," she said sourly. Clearly she detested the fact she was in charge of us.

"Wait just a moment. Your sisters I encountered in the forest tried to kill both of us. Why is it that we are here, with you, alive, and have had our wounds treated?" I asked, truly curious about this odd turn of events.

The scarlet robed Amazon cringed. "It was not our choice to help you at all. By all rights the two of you should be dead now. Especially him-" she spat at the necromancer.

"Ah, and there it is. I was waiting on that," he said snidely.

"Be silent!" our captor demanded venomously, "you are here because the Queen herself allowed you to live. She herself will be here shortly to explain everything to you, priestess of Zerae. And you, necromancer, are only alive because this priestess fought to defend you. The way she fought for you, we thought surely you meant something to her. I can't understand how someone can even stomach your kind, vile, wretched practitioner of demonic arts!" she spat.

"You're right to be afraid of me," he chided, "Because I'm going to—" he began.

"He's going to sit down and shut up if I have to knock him out myself," I finished for him. He glowered at me, that eerie light flashing behind his eyes.

"You," he began, "I'll kill you later."

"If we live that long. The way you're talking is going to get us both killed. We're prisoners right now in case you didn't notice," I reprimanded.

"She's right necromancer. The queen spared her life, but she might not spare yours," our custodian announced.

"You can certainly hope," he mocked.

By Zerae his mouth was bigger than the largest elephant I had ever seen . . . it was like a bottomless pit of sarcasm. I thought necromancers were supposed to be terrifying. He was just annoying, but then again . . . that energy he had conjured up a minute ago, there was true power in it. It carried a definite dark feeling to it. It felt like . . . .death. Well that was why they were called necromancers . . . That spell he was about to use on me had that power in it . . . so he wasn't just bluffing. That sent a chill down my spine as I looked at him.

"Gyera, her majesty is here," a voice called in from somewhere outside.

"Mind your tongues both of you," she snarled more at the necromancer than at me, "if either of you insult my queen your heads will roll at my feet!"

"None of you have what it would take to kill me," he said with a grin on his face as he watched our captor get huffy and red in the face. I could tell it was taking every ounce of her restraint to keep from hitting him.

"Right now, anything could kill you, seeing how serious your wounds are, necromancer," a voice said as a shadow appeared in the doorframe.

I recognized the voice as the one behind me in the woods, yesterday. At least I thought it was yesterday. I had no clue where we were exactly and how long I'd been out for. A tall, muscular woman in dark red armor surfaced before us. Behind her were three handmaidens in similar garb.

"Queen Cherae," said our chaperone, bowing low.

"Gyera, you are dismissed. Go and see to our other sisters," the queen instructed.

"But, your majesty, he," she began directed at the necromancer.

"As of this moment, he is of no threat to me. Just looking at him is enough to tell you that. If he somehow managed to cast even one spell, he would undoubtedly collapse.

"Yes my queen," she said and quickly took her leave, although not without casting us one last suspicious glance.

The necromancer opened his mouth to say something but a harsh look from the regal woman silenced him. "Stay silent like the dead you command, necromancer. I have little patience for those who think themselves superior to everyone else."

"I don't take orders," he said flatly. "Especially not from people I don't find threatening."

"No?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I suppose you'd reconsider if I was to throw you into our arena in your condition. Your brave talk fools no one, save maybe yourself, dark mage."

He snorted but didn't say anything, much to my relief.

"Your majesty," I began, unsure of how to address this woman, "I'm not sure I understand. It was you who spared our lives, was it not? Yet, it goes against your own law to do so."

"Ah yes. I did choose to spare your lives. I have . . . seen something interesting in the fires of the mighty Kethryes. You might say I knew that you were coming."

"So you see through fire?" I asked curiously.

"I read the fire like your high priestess reads the lightning from the heavens, warrior." She said, emphasizing the last word. She must have seen the confused look on my face. "There is no way that you could be a priestess. Priestesses only fight in times of war. You," she started, "have been quite an upstart."

"You know about all that?" I asked.

"Yes. I have heard. We are not so isolated that rumors don't reach our ears. But as I said before, I have foreseen your arrival, daughter of the high priestess."

The necromancer looked at me with interest. "Well that's interesting. Just what exactly did you do, Amazon?" he asked me.

"Ask your questions when I am finished speaking," the queen demanded. That eerie light flashed behind his eyes, and she took notice. "You have quite a temper."

"You haven't seen anything yet," he growled.

"And I doubt that I will if you value your life. Even those who worship death as you do still seek to preserve their own life for as long as possible."

"I'm not afraid to die," he said strongly.

"I don't doubt that, but do you honestly want to throw your life away for something so trivial like a lack of manners towards your hostess?" she replied simply.

"What is it exactly that you want with me?" he asked, leaving me out of the matter entirely. How selfish, I thought to myself. I saved his life and he didn't care what happened to me.

"I want you to listen to what I have to say," she said, glaring at him.

"Speak then," he said plainly as he started to cough. As his body shook, bloody patches began appearing on his white bandages.

"Are you—" I began. For some reason, rude though he was, I didn't want him to suffer.

"I'm fine," he snapped, "I'm listening."

She nodded. "I have seen you both in a vision. I have been having dark dreams as of late. Warrior," she said addressing me, "my dreams are the same as yours. Trouble stirs in the west."

"What is to be done then?" I asked. "How do we play into this," I said as I looked my injured companion over.

"Your role is not yet clear, though the influence you will hold over the situation is very powerful. More will happen to you than I can see, but that which I can says that I must not hold you here."

"So that's it?" I asked, amazed. "We're free to go? Just like that?"

"Not quite," she said. This made me and the necromancer frown. "I have a task for you, a trial if you will, that will determine whether or not you are fit to leave this island to the challenges that lie beyond."

"Challenge?" I asked.

"She means something difficult, Amazon, in case you didn't know," the necromancer chided.

"Shut up," I growled at him.

"Or you'll do what exactly?" he retorted mockingly.

"Silence, both of you," the queen reprimanded us like she was talking to children, "There is a river demon lurking in the estuary just beyond this fortress that has been eluding us. I want the two of you to vanquish it. But beware, this monster claims all that are unwary. Do this and you will not only have my permission to leave and my forgiveness for your trespasses, but we will outfit you with what provisions we can spare for your journey."

The necromancer gave an indignant snort. "Are you telling me that a group of you couldn't wipe the thing out? That's really pathetic. And another thing, I work alone. There is no way in the name of Trag `Oul that I am dragging this damn girl with me! She will just get in my way. If I have to kill the damn thing for you to get out of this place then so be it, the sooner you let me out the better. I have an agenda to attend to. What's more, it's _my_ agenda. I don't know what journey you're talking about, because I'm not taking anyone with me! " he declared, glowering at me.

It was my turn to laugh. "Your majesty, you want me to take him with me? Surely you must know that this is a death sentence for him. Look at him, he can barely stand. You expect me to be able to defend him and kill the creature at the same time? What about weapons?" I asked.

The queen nodded. "You will find that you need none," she replied.

"Excuse me!" The necromancer grunted incredulously. "You want us to kill a demon without weapons? What are we supposed to do? Strangle it or just ask it to die?"

"I don't know, you have a pretty good grip," I said sarcastically.

"You must rely on each other," Queen Cherae stated simply. "Only together can you defeat this foe."

"What's to keep me from simply leaving once you turn me loose of this place?" the necromancer voiced aloud the question I had been wondering.

He seemed that type to me, the kind that would just blow someone off completely when they asked a favor of him. What would keep him from just walking away other than his health? This idea of the queen's revolted me. I would have a dead weight with me, good for nothing but complaining. And the more and more I thought about it the more and more gladdened I was that we didn't have weapons. He might actual try to kill me if he had one.

"Necromancer, I doubt that the nature of your condition eludes you. I doubt that you would get very far on your own before you require more medical care. But to answer that question, if you attempt to run away, know that you will be caught. My daughters are everywhere in these woods and the daughters of the other tribes patrol the lands beyond. And if you are caught disgracing yourselves by fleeing, we will strike you down where you stand. There will be no second chances. Dishonor will be met with death," she affirmed.

"And what if we can't find the demon?" I asked her. "How long are you giving us?" I asked.

"If you are smart, the demon will come to you. It is so with all great hunters, daughter of Zerae. You have until morning," the queen assured.

I stood there, stunned. "You want us to fight in the dark!" I exclaimed in shock.

The necromancer laughed. "This just keeps getting better and better. Why don't you just execute us now and save us the trouble?" he griped.

"Fate controls everything. You will live, or die, as fate demands. If you succeed in this endeavor then it will prove my suspicions. You will be strong enough to face the future I have foreseen for you."

" Future what future? You could be seeing things that aren't true. For all I know you could be inhaling fumes for your so called prophetic visions," the dark mage grumbled.

"Not likely," I said quietly. "Amazon innersight is a true gift from the immortals. It involves no ingestion of poisons."

"Whatever, I'm not going to be around any of you long enough to care. Let's go. I hate waiting," he insisted as he struggled to stay stable on his feet. He shook on them dangerously. I could still see sweat on his brow. The fever hadn't broken yet either.

"Honorable Queen Cherae, please allow me to vanquish this demon. I don't think he stands a chance. I don't want to see him die like that," I said quickly.

The necromancer cast a steely gaze on me. "I don't want your pity. I HATE pity. I'll kill you before I accept it from you. If you think I'm weak you'd be wrong. I've been building my energy," he announced, a little peeved. He closed his eyes and centered himself, standing straight up. He wavered slightly still, but he looked stable enough to walk.

The Queen nodded. "Are you ready?" she asked.

The necromancer rolled his eyes. "Didn't I just tell you I was?"

I'd have kicked him but I was afraid I might severely injure him and then I'd have to carry him. "I'm ready as well. The sooner we leave the better, the more time it gives us," I affirmed.

"Good. Fraya, if you please," she said gesturing to one of the warriors behind her. The amazon Fraya, stepped forward, two pieces of thick cloth in her hands.

"Blindfolds?" the necromancer asked in distaste.

"No one will know the location of this fortress save us. You were both unconscious when you were brought here and thus have no knowledge of how to get here. We will lead you to a rendezvous point. When and if you slay the demon, you will return to that spot and a few of my daughters will escort you back here in the same manner." The regal queen explained.

"What makes you so sure we won't stumble onto this fortress on accident in our wanderings?" I asked.

"The place you need to go is a safe enough distance away. And as I have said before, my daughters patrol these forests. If you stumble even remotely close, they will bar your way." Queen Cherae announced.

I nodded, and allowed one of the queen's security detail to bind the cloth around my eyes. "Don't trip," I shot at the necromancer.

He mumbled something I couldn't hear as a strong hand began guiding my way. It was an uncomfortable feeling not to know where I was going. All around I could hear the sounds that the forest made at night. I could hear the chirping of insects, the soft cooing of birds and the rustle of the underbrush. It wasn't too much later that we stopped moving and the blanket was moved away from my eyes. We were in a small clear patch about fifteen feet wide. The lighting was dim at best.

"The estuary is just ahead," said the warrior behind me. I turned to thank her and realized that they had slipped away into the underbrush already. The necromancer growled.

"They move like assassins," he said bluntly. "But somehow I doubt that you can too," he spat.

"Stop griping at me," I snapped. "I can move that way when I don't have a tag along. With the way you're stumbling around every predator in the forest can hear us," I retorted. "You know what, why don't you just stay here and wait on me? It'll be easier on both of us. I won't have to worry about you getting eaten," I suggested.

He just laughed. "I'm not going to wait around here like a sitting duck. If you were planning on using me as bait to draw out the demon, guess again," he said plainly. I'm not sticking my neck out for anyone."

"Well then what do you think we should do? You can't exactly fight," I pointed out.

"You know what? I have an idea. I have enough energy for one thing. . . I know how you can make yourself useful," he said with a wicked smile.

Without warning, he threw out his had towards me and said something I didn't understand in some arcane language. I suddenly dropped to my knees in pain. A red glow lit our dim surroundings as it permeated off my skin in waves into the necromancer's hand. I felt a vacuuming sensation, as I became weaker with every passing second. The further down I sank, the more I saw him straighten up. He suddenly became a lot more balanced and I noticed that some of his minor wounds appeared to be healing up. Then I realized, he was literally sucking the life out of me.

"What are you doing? STOP!" I demanded as vehemently as I was able.

"How do you like my life tap curse?" he chided, as the glow built to a crescendo.

"STOP!" I demanded, my strength failing rapidly. Was he going to kill me? Surely one of the rogue amazons that were supposed to be watching us would do something? And if I died, wouldn't they surely tell Queen Cherae? He would never make it out of here alive if that happened. And then, just as suddenly as it had come, it subsided. The necromancer absorbed what was left of the glow and the force of it made him stumble back some. I tried, with great difficultly to return to my feet. I had to make several attempts before I succeeded.

He watched me and laughed. "How does it feel? Don't think you're so tough now do you? I could kill you right now if I wanted to. Thanks to you, I'm strong enough."

"Then why don't you?" I panted, struggling to regain my breath.

"Sadly, I'm out of mana," he explained coldly, "and I don't think you're worth the effort."

"How kind of you," I said sarcastically, looking around for anything I could use as a weapon.

"Now, why don't you be a good girl, and _you stay here_. It shouldn't take me very long to regain enough of my mana to kill this thing now that I'm not so Trag 'Oul damn injured and weak," he stated and turned his back to me, walking away into the darkness ahead before I could stop him.

"Damn!" I shouted loudly, though with the din of the forest it was drown out. I would have kicked something, but I knew I would fall over. I took a moment and leaned against a nearby tree. So much for not giving us weapons. He had just attacked me anyway. And I was helpless to defend myself . . .the potency of that curse, even when he was so weak and had little spiritual force to expend on it, frightened me. He was definitely powerful. . .

I took a deep breath, feeling some of my vitality come back with it. I wasn't going to stay here. It was too dangerous to linger too long in any one spot, especially without weapons. I took a step after him and stumbled over a supple root. Then it occurred to me. I could make a makeshift bow. A pathetic one at that, but It should be enough to get me through. I yanked the root up and broke it off. I saw a nearby vine dangling from a tree and grabbed that as well. I hastily tied it onto the wood. I pulled it back to give it a test. The range on it was pathetic, but it was sturdy enough to hold something. Something was going to have to stand extremely close to me for my bow's attack to have any potency at all. As for arrows, a small smile came to my face as I thought about it. Cherae had been right, I didn't need anything. Legend had it that once the ancient amazons of Tran Athulua had found themselves under siege by pirates. The siege lasted many months and ammunition ran out. It was then that the sisters prayed to Athulua and the immortal granted them insight to make arrows from their own spiritual energies. By focusing our own mana, we could create something with enough substance to be fired from a bow.

The necromancer might not have had enough mana to immediately deal with the situation, but I did. Feeling refreshed enough to continue, I hastily made my way after him. It was dark, so I listened for everything. Every sound gave way to a feeling of life energy, and this triggered my innersight. I could literally see everything around me without seeing it physically. My boots sloshed as they hit the water and my feet sank into the sticky mud beneath it, hindering my progress as I labored to take each step. My guess was that the necromancer hadn't gotten very far either, unless he could walk on water.

My hunch was correct; my innersight revealed that he was just up ahead along with something else. From the looks of it, he had somehow managed to draw out the demon and was now fighting it. As I entered into view he was hurling green-yellow balls of energy at it with what looked like teeth protruding out of them. The missiles hit and on impact they seared holes through the creature's flesh. It wailed and thrashed about, making horrid noises until at last it flailed its tentacles and fell back into the water, spouting blood. It appeared to be dead, and he gave it a suspicious glance, before turning and walking back towards me.

That's when I felt it. My innersight gave a twinge and I used the faint light from the creatures own energy to illuminate it, leaving a trail of stars between me and it. The necromancer turned around sharply, energy in hand, just in time for a tentacle to whip out of the water and smack him hard across the chest, sending him to the ground. The head of the reptilian creature, surfaced from the water, and opened its powerful jaws lined with saber-like teeth. The necromancer flung an energy ball, but it missed as the creature's head came crashing down. He had just enough time to hastily roll aside. The creature smacked its tail across his bare chest, pinning him down. He struggled against it but to no avail, it had pinned his arms. It reared back to strike again and there was a bright light. The necromancer had found a way send those teeth-like balls through the tentacle and break free. He hastily made his way back onto his feet, but he wasn't going to be able to move away from the creature fast enough. That was my cue.

Taking careful aim, I conjured an arrow from my own mana and I saw it come to life in bright rays of light. I ran forward with the ethereal arrow tight against the bow string into range. When I was only about twenty feet from them, I loosed it, watching it travel leaving blue rings of energy behind. It spiraled right into the creature's open mouth and imbedded itself into the back of its throat. There was a bright blue light and its head exploded, sending gunk everywhere, including over me and the necromancer. No doubt about it, this time the creature was definitely deceased.

My necromancer companion turned to me as the effects of my inner sight wore off, darkening the immediate area.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he said irritably.

"Saving your life for the second time, although I have no idea why I did, seeing as you tried to kill me earlier," I said curtly. I expected him to say something snide, but instead he just wiped the slime off his drenched brow. He gave his hand a shake, flinging it everywhere.

"Even I find this disgusting," he growled, shaking his head.

"So now what?" I asked him, readying the bow in case he tried anything else. Now I was armed. He wouldn't do anything else to me without a fight.

"Let's just go," he said simply, shocking me so much that I blinked and dropped my guard.

"What?" I asked in amazement. "That's it?"

He raised an ivory eyebrow. In the dark his hair was unbelievably bright. "What? You want to fight me? Want revenge for what I did earlier?" he took a step back, bracing himself, expecting me to attack him.

I shook my head. "Only if you're going to try anything else," I stated bluntly.

"Why bother? I'd just kick your ass. Trust me you don't want to push me. If we get into another scrap I really will kill you this time. I'm too damn tired to waste my time with play fights. You want to fight me, fine. But it'll be all or nothing. And if I win, as a consolation prize, I'll use your skeleton as my personal bodyguard."

I sighed in distaste. "You certainly have a way with people. I just want to get back to the fortress so I can get off this island. I have a calling in the west, in case you didn't hear."

He nodded. "Then let's go. I personally don't want to be standing around here all night. I prefer to sleep lying down and your banter is hastily putting me there."

I sighed and started walking back, keeping him in the corner of my eye the whole way. He definitely looked better but still a bit out of it. He needed more treatment before he'd be fit to travel any long distance. We traveled in silence for the most part, back to the spot where the amazons had left us. They were no where to be seen as we arrived, the necromancer took to sitting cross-legged on the ground beside me. I sat down too, directly across from him.

"What happened?" I asked him at last.

"To what?" he asked impatiently.

"To you? Why are you here? You said something about Mephisto's demons. The Lord of Hatred is kind of a serious matter," I said gravely.

He laughed. "I hardly know you. You think I'm going to just spill my guts for you? My own father doesn't usually get that much out of me."

"Okay then. What will you do when we get back? Where are you going?" I asked again.

"That's none of your business," he said flatly. "Why?"

"You said you had an agenda. You must be heading somewhere," I replied. This man was certainly tall, dark, and mysterious.

"True," he added. Alright, if it will shut you up, I'm headed to Lut Gholein. I have something I have to do there and then I'm going home," he said cryptically.

"Where's your home? Kurast? I heard most mage clans are from there," I asked.

He glowered at me. "If I told you that I would have to kill you and then I would be killed myself for telling someone else to begin with. If you keep asking me questions I will kill you anyway," he threatened.

I could tell I was hitting a nerve, and that he wanted me to be quiet by the look he was giving me. "You've threatened me at least three times within the last hour. If you were serious, you'd have killed me by now," I pointed out.

"What are you getting at?" he asked, sharp as a knife. He was definitely smart.

"If you're going east, you'll have to get through the mountain pass in the West. Since you're going that way we should travel together. I want you to take me with you," I announced.

He nearly fell over laughing and then sat up straight, wincing. He put a hand in the small of his back, massaging it. "Why in the Sanctuary should I do that? I told you that I work alone; can you not take a hint? Besides you saw what I did to you earlier. What's to say I wouldn't do worse than that if you piss me off? And you've done a lot of that since the second I first saw your face earlier. I might kill you in your sleep if I felt like it. You really think you can trust me?" he sneered.

"Somehow I don't think you're as bad as you're making yourself out to be," I said truthfully.

"How would you know? Amazon you're stupid to trust someone you've just met. Especially someone like me."

"You're not going to hurt me," I said confidently.

"What makes you so sure?" he asked, a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"Because now that I have seen what you can do, I will be on my guard. You will find that pissing off an amazon is not a smart thing to do at all. I can defend myself just fine. Besides, it might be handy for you to have someone else there with you until you can fully regain yourself. I've already saved your sorry ass twice. I think I've proven myself to a fair extent. I'm competent, I take care of myself," I reasoned.

"You'd better if you intend to stay alive very long. Don't ever depend on anyone other than yourself," he said darkly. "Besides, what makes coming with me easier on you? I think going it alone would be quicker for both of us, or at least for me," he said irritated.

"Unless you can teleport or fly I think we'd get there at about the same time," I admitted. "Besides, don't you ever get tired of being alone?" I asked.

He looked at me point blank. "Never. I like it that way."

"I can tell. You're so obnoxious that you drive everyone away from you," I pointed out.

"Knowing that, why the hell do you want to be around me?" he said in amusement.

"Look at it this way, there is safety in numbers. If we went together it would be easier for us to deal with things that might get in the way," I reasoned.

He laughed again. "I don't need you to deal with things. Are you implying that you're too afraid to be on your own, that you want me to protect you? Because I'd just as soon kill you than I would rescue you."

"I don't need rescuing. Apparently, though, you do," I stated with a smile. "Say what you want, the fact is I've saved your life. You owe me at least the right to make my own decision."

His lip curled. "And what if I let you come with me? The second we get to Lut Gholein I'd drop your ass flat in the sand. What are you hoping, amazon, that'll we'll become best friends or something?"

"No. Nothing like that," I said honestly. I didn't think I could be friends with this man even if I'd wanted to. Still, something was drawing me to him. And still didn't quite understand what it was. Why did I want to go with him so badly?

He looked at me for a moment, those deep eyes boring a hole into my soul. He looked me over and then sighed. "Somehow I get the feeling that you might follow me," he grunted.

"Possibly," I said.

"Well, I suppose I could always throw you in front of me if something happens," he said frankly, "or use you for spell practice to make you regret ever meeting me."

"So does that mean you'll take me?" I asked.

"Get this straight," he said quickly, "If you piss me off I will kill you, I don't need you. If you become a burden in any way, I'll kill you. If you can't take care of yourself, don't expect me to even lift a finger to help you. And we are parting ways the second our feet hit the sand of Lut Gholein, do I make myself clear?" he said at last, deadly serious.

I smiled. "Perfectly." At that time I heard a rustle in the underbrush as several rogue amazons appeared all around us.

"That was quick," the necromancer exclaimed grouchily. "Watch it!" he hissed as we were pulled to our feet and blindfolded. When next we could see clearly, we were back in the encampment, and the face of Queen Cherae greeted us.

"Well done. You are ready. The next available passage to the mainland leaves this evening; we've arranged your transport on it. These," she said gesturing to a few boxes around us, "are your provisions. We have taken the liberty to return all of your possessions, plus a few that we had on hand."  
I bowed. "Thank you, Queen Cherae," I said as I opened the lid of the one closest to me. It was full of, to my delight, a whole new set of armor matching the ones the amazons in our company wore. Upon further inspection, I found several sets of javelins and my ceremonial short spear. The necromancer seemed pleased as well. He pulled from a box a long a velvety piece of cloth that I realized was a robe. He hastily slipped it on over his exposed skin.

"We didn't have much that could be of use to you, dark mage, but what little we do have is there as payment for your service to us," she said to him.

"It'll work," he said simply without so much as a thank you.

"Prepare yourselves for your departure," she informed and began to walk away.

"Your majesty," I called after her, a question coming to mind. "Is there any way that you are related to Queen Chelsea?"

She stopped and turned around, a serious look on her face. "Don't ask such questions. Questions will sometimes bring you into great trouble." I nodded, and finished inspecting our gear.

The sun was beginning to set when we set out blindfolded towards wherever it was that they were taking us. It was already nightfall by the time we arrived. When the folds were removed from our eyes for the final time, we were standing on a small riverbank and there was a man on a ferry waiting for us as the rogue amazons loaded up all of our gear. After a brief goodbye from me and nothing from my necromancer companion, we parted ways. We rode on the ferry for a while, and then a thought occurred to me. In all the commotion of the past events, I hadn't even bothered asking my companion his name.

I turned to him. "What is your name? If I'm going to travel with you for a long period of time I would prefer to address you by a name other than your class," I said straightforward.

He got a strange a look on his face, then grinned. "My name is Piricus, amazon. It's Piricus."


	3. Chapter 3

Meetings and Greetings

Chyemme

It had been almost three weeks since Piricus and I had left Skovas, my home since I was born. It was hard to believe that, already, such a fair amount of time had passed since then. Indeed, as I looked over to my companion, the necromancer Piricus, the past three weeks seemed like nothing. Piricus was a tall man, about 6" 2' in height and his physique was sleek and muscular. He had long white hair down to his shoulder blades that was always pulled back in a ponytail tied at the nape of his neck. He had a very smooth face and his facial features were sharp, however sharpest of all were his eyes. His eyes were a radiant emerald green, and nothing else about him could match their sharp cold or swift cunning.

His black robe billowed in the breeze as our caravan ran swiftly along the path. Piricus noticed me staring at him.

"What?" he demanded harshly.

"Nothing," I smiled back.

Piricus scowled. It reminded me of the time I had met him, or rescued him rather. I had taken some time, but had managed to get him to open up to me somewhat. As it turned out, he had been on some sort of trading voyage up in the Twin Seas on route to Kingsport from Kurast that had been annihilated by strange sea-going monsters loyal to Mephisto. The ship had been completely destroyed not that far from the Amazon Isles and Piricus, who seemed to be the only survivor, must have washed ashore dragged by the current. In return for saving his life, he allowed me to travel with him and said I could come as far as Lut Gholein. As it was, he was making his way back to Kurast, his home, now to inform his guild what was happening. He said we would take the route through Westmarch to Lut Gholein, where he'd make some trades and then return to his order.

We would have sailed directly to Lut Gholein, however it had happened that a strange and sudden hurricane of unparalleled magnitude had blocked the strait in-between the Twin Seas and was unsurpassable. Only a select handful of sailors that had seen the storm had survived, and they were all spouting tales of horrid gales of wind that could pick up a hundred ships and fling them to the far ends of the sanctuary, clouds so black that they killed light itself, waters so fierce that no ship could float atop of, and lightning so powerful it electrified the very air that was breathed. Those fortunate few who survived the initial hurricane also recounted tales of horrendous monsters and terrifying demons lurking in the waters that attacked their rafts and ate men whole all the way from the deep seas, to just offshore. Some had been so traumatized by their ordeal that they swore oaths never to return to the sea…. The monsters, as far as we knew, where heavily concentrated around the eastern parts of the sea, so we had taken the western part to Kingsport, just seventy-five miles off the coast of Skovas.

The rogue amazons Piricus and I had encountered before leaving Skovas had been kind enough to give us what provisions they could provide and they had outfitted me properly, however they were only able to supply a few of the items Piricus needed for his craft. Upon our landing, we had spent a few days in Kingsport, stocking up on supplies, tracing maps for a route and replacing belongings that I had left behind and Piricus had lost in the shipwreck. It was here that we learned of all sorts of odd occurrences happening around the world from the local merchants. Probably the worst was what I heard about the town of Tristram, a small, friendly place that housed the Temple of Khanduras. The temple itself was legend, and was supposed to be a very powerful stronghold of purity and righteousness in the sanctuary. I heard from a merchant that the town had suddenly become overrun by demons of the worst sort and that their King, Leoric by name, had gone crazy and started slaughtering the townspeople. I heard that these events had happened not to long ago, and that the town was just now recovering.

Among the other whispers passed along the grapevine, Piricus and I heard of the troubles in a place we would have to go to in order to arrive at Lut Gholein. The Sisters of the Sightless Eye, rogues more specifically, had started to experience problems with the demonic after a mysterious and dark wanderer had passed through their monastery. Rumor had it that the monastery had been overtaken by demons and that the sisterhood had been forced from their ancestral home. In that case, the pass most definitely would have been unreachable. I liked the reason the pass was sealed even less. It was rumored that the Demon Queen, Andariel herself, had appeared within the monastery and was corrupting or killing all that came within her reach…. Undoubtedly, we'd find out soon enough and that set a shiver in my spine.

We also heard that Kurast wasn't all it used to be. A few sailors I met while passing by a local pub had actually come from there, and managed to escape the hurricane mainly because they were on the Amazon Isles when the storm appeared. They too told strange and twisted tales of horror. They said that Kurast had been reclaimed by the jungle and at the moment, they were fighting off corrupted priests of Zakarum! This in itself disturbed me, for the priests of Zakarum were supposed to be noble guardians of the righteous word. If those that were most pure upon this earth had fallen, was there any hope for the rest of us? Piricus had not been surprised to learn of this, however. He had just laughed.

"Paladins have always been a pain in the ass to necromancers. They're really a joke. They always were pretending to be high and mighty, when the Priests of Rathma could see their corruption sneaking in silently among them."

I hadn't had a response for this, so I hadn't said anything. I'd never met a paladin before.

Probably most noteworthy of the events in Kingsport, Piricus and I had met two young mages about our own age, a woman and a man. They had been staying at the same inn he and I were. Piricus had recognized them immediately, although in their brightly colored robes, what person wouldn't have? They seemed to be able to sense magic and were drawn to Piricus'. They had recognized him for what he was too. It had been a strange evening, that. Piricus had pretty much refused to say anything, he obviously held respect for such magics, but thought they were below his own.

The woman, whom wore a lavender purple robe with golden runes of protection around the edges, introduced herself as the sorceress Vendra. She was a tall petite woman and her height reached about 5' 8". She had a very slender and flexible body figure with slightly pointed facial features. She had a light tan skin tone with wavy chocolate brown hair and eyes to match.

Vendra's companion in the scarlet robe was the sorcerer, Sovellis. He was 6' 9", a tall, dark-skinned mage. He had very broad shoulders, a muscular upper body, and long, muscular legs. He had a square jaw and thin cheek tissue. His hair was dark black, and had thin, but curly nature. His eyes were as dark as his hair, but shimmered with an uncommon lust and love for life. I could already tell he had a good heart.

These two had spent the better part of the night with us, telling us their tale and asking us about ours in return. They had been on one of the ships that had passed through demon infested waters from Kurast. Their original destination had been Lut Gholein; there was a highly admired mage there that they had been sent to find. Vendra and Sovellis had said they were from Ureh, a town deep in the eastern jungles, and that they were mages from an order called the Zhan-Esu, who sought pure elemental magic. They had said they were apprentices, although far more skilled than the rest of their fellow students. They said they had to pass a trial for them to be considered true followers of the Zhan-Esu. From what I gathered, it was this mage they were sent to find who would give them a task to prove themselves and earn the right to be called master practitioners of their order.

The mages' tales corresponded with the ones we had heard about Kurast from the many various people in the town, as well as the ones about the hardships at sea. Where they had originally been going to Lut Gholein, their ship had been blown off course by the sudden hurricane at sea and the Captain of that ship had rerouted to Kingsport, the closest harbor he could identify and navigate to. I had wanted them to come with us, just until we reached their destination. Both of them were pretty much stuck out there with no way to get to Lut Gholein. It had taken a lot of discussing, or arguing rather, but at last Piricus agreed to let them come with us if it was their wish. I guess he saw reason in my point that between an amazon, a necromancer, and two mages if we did have to fight something as powerful as Andariel at the rogue pass, then it would be much easier.

To make a long story short, Vendra and Sovellis had gratefully agreed to accompany us, and were now traveling with us. Piricus rarely spoke to them, preferring to keep to himself. At first I thought it was because the news of his homeland disturbed him and he thought about it often, but he had taken the news so well, it was like he didn't care…. I however, was pleased to talk to our new guests whenever they wanted to talk. I knew little about the ways of mages, and Sovellis, occasionally with Vendra, was all too happy to tell me. As well as learning about necromancers and their art (Piricus didn't really want to talk about it), I also learned more about the Zhan- Esu. The Zhan-Esu had once been partners of the Horadrim, the order of mortals chosen to fight and detain the three legendary prime evils: Diablo, the Lord of Terror, Mephisto the Lord of Hatred, and Baal, the Lord of Destruction. It was from Sovellis, that I also heard the full account of Tristram.

According to Horadrim records, Diablo had been imprisoned by the Horadrim into a legendary soul stone and locked away beneath the Khanduras Cathedral. The priest of Zakarum, sent to guard it, the Arch Bishop Lazarus, had turned from the side of light and for reasons unknown, kidnapped the King's son, Albrecht. Sovellis suspected that the arch bishop was working for Diablo, and kidnapped the boy so the demon could possess him. It was my understanding that Diablo could only be born again if he possessed a human body. It was speculated the arch bishop knew this would drive Leoric, the king, into madness, and therefore distract from what was truly taking place.

Leoric did indeed go insane from what the tales told, and went crazy over his only child's disappearance. Leoric began slaughtering the townspeople over the false accusations that they had kidnapped his son. As the months went by and the months turned to a year the killings became commonplace, until finally Leoric's knights were forced to kill him to put a stop to the bloodshed. The death tolls were devastating. I am told that only one sixth of Tristram's original population remained after this. A few months had passed and the demons and darkness where beginning to engulf Tristram, until recently dated records that were found say that a hero, an old resident of Tristram, returned and cleared out the hellish catacombs of the cathedral. It was rumored that there, beneath the earth, in the deepest dungeon, he fought Diablo himself and triumphed! However he was too late to save Albrecht, the young prince was already dead.

The records said that the hero emerged from the catacombs and soon after left Tristram mysteriously. One day soon after the town was once more attacked by a horde of terrifying demons. The town, as rumored, was completely obliterated….The Zhan-Esu, having been partners with the Horadrim, had access to these records and were fairly sure this is what had happened. I agreed with Sovellis and the Zhan-Esu that since no one had really seen Diablo fall, that he might indeed still be out there. I had a feeling time would tell. And so here we were, headed to the rogue encampment. In the distant night sky I saw smoke rising. We were almost there.

Piricus

Finally, we had almost reached our destination. I was beginning to become impatient. I could have been at the rogue encampment by now, had I traveled alone. But my amazon tag-along had insisted on bringing two more people besides herself when I hadn't even wanted _her_ to come to begin with. Foolish woman had probably been spoiled her whole life and had never known true hardships. I don't believe by looking at her that she has ever had to kill for her survival….And yet, I let her come and against my better judgment at that. Had I wanted her come? Absolutely not. I must be fooling myself; of course I hadn't wanted her to come along. However she had saved my life and I owed her enough as to allow the amazon her own will. Taking a closer look at her next to me out of the corner of my eye, I felt it again as I often did. There was something about her though…sometimes it shone in her eyes like a thousand burning torches that maybe her life wasn't the glamorous thing it appeared to be. Maybe she, like me, held deeper secrets. I felt connected to her somehow, and maybe that was why.

The amazon was about 5'7" in height, not bad for a woman. Her body was lithe and slender, but had a definite muscle tone. And yet, she still managed to have curves in all the right places…not that I cared. But if ever I did have to choose a mate, I'd probably choose someone like her. She had long, straight, sandy blonde hair tied back into a high ponytail that trailed down to her mid-back. Her face was rather pointed, but rounded as well. And those eyes, those eyes that seemed to reflect the deepest of every emotion, were a beautiful misty cerulean. Eyes alone could be beautiful, couldn't they? It didn't matter anyway. What did I care?

"Look, Piricus," Her light voice called. The clasps of her leather armor glistened in the moonlight as I looked over to her.

"What?" I asked flatly.

"Smoke. No doubt of the encampment," she said nodding her head toward the horizon.

"Finally," I sighed in impatience and turned away again. It was about time.

"We are there?" asked the deep voice of the male mage from behind me, in his less than perfect common tongue.

"Not quite," the amazon answered for me.

"This is so pathetic," the voice of the female mage whined. I took it she wasn't used to travel, or perhaps like me, she was losing patience with it. "Sovellis, why are we even traveling to begin with? We could have just teleported," she complained.

"Because we wear ourselves out by teleporting more than twice day, and we only teleport so far. Remember the last time you teleport more than twice? You totally drain your mana and stamina. You could not cast for days afterwards. And besides, you never be completely sure where you end up. You and I could end up miles apart, or we could miss target. It would be big hassle, so we took traditional, but long way!" he insisted in once more, a less than desirable dialect. Common tongue was clearly not his first choice of a language.

"Whatever the case we get same place anyway," he finished.

"Whatever you say. I don't care," she pouted.

I laughed inwardly to myself. That sorceress must be a pain in the ass to be around all the time. I looked to the amazon. Most women were. And yet, like most foolish men, like the sorcerer was dedicated to her. He still cared for her, it was obvious. To me, it was enslavement of the worst kind. I had seen the most respectable of men turn into drooling servants, unfit for anything over a woman. I vowed that would never happen to me. Never. Looking at the sorcerer and sorceress, they seemed so used to each other though. Perhaps they were bound in matrimony. The amazon apparently had the same question and asked it aloud.

"Are you two married? You seem rather found of each other," she asked.

"Him and me? Hell no!" barked the sorceress as she eyed the sorcerer and turned away.

The sorcerer blushed, as hard as that was to see in the dark and on his dark skin. "Umm…no Miss Chyemme. She and I only comrades, bound by the Zhan-Esu," he explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please for give my ignorance. I can see it was insulting to the both of you," the amazon apologized.

"Quite understandable. Me and Vendra just good friends. All is pardoned," the sorcerer replied.

"Why does everybody we come across assume that about us? You are practically my brother Sovellis, although sometimes you act so thick I'd like to hit you over the head with my short staff!" she sighed.

"I'd like to hit you over the head with anything that would knock you out for the remainder of the journey, sorceress. I'm sick of hearing your complaining," I grumbled.

She turned to me in a flash with an icy glare. I expected the sorcerer to defend her, but he however, just laughed, which angered the woman even further."Why you little…!"

Not three second after, the sorceress conjured a lightning bolt, not more than static on her finger, and shocked the sorcerer. Then she sent one at me.

It hit my robe and bounced off. She growled in frustration as I smirked. "Insulated," I told her in amusement.

"Men!" she shouted and turned away.

"Are you okay, Sovellis?" I heard the amazon ask in concern.

If the fool couldn't survive that without complaining, he shouldn't be coming into Andariel's territory.

"I'm good. All is well," I heard him answer.

I turned just in time to see him smooth his vertical hair back down.

"She does that a lot. Funny joke," he smiled.

I saw the amazon grin and turned my attention back to the road and the reins. I, after all, was the one steering. I noticed that our caravan oxen were beginning to tire; their feet were beginning to sink into the mushy ground of the moor we'd just entered and they had to exert extra effort just to pick up their feet. It was a full moon at half sky when we arrived at the saddest excuse for a fortress I had ever seen. It was no more than a low-lying terrace across the river from the moor. The fencing was a border of chopped down trees tied together with rope that had been sharpened at the top and buried at the bottom in a line. The perimeter covered fifteen square acres, if that. Rogue sentinels armed with short bows dressed in red quilted armor guarded the only entranceway.

"Halt! Who goes to enter here?" The guard on the left called to us.

"Four adventurers who have heard of your troubles," the amazon called back, giving me a quick glance. She was probably afraid that I might have said something rude that would have gotten us shot.

"Wait there," the guard called back, still holding us at bay, but she nodded to the other guard who disappeared into the camp.

The rogue resurfaced moments later with a taller woman in chainmail armor and a desert traveler's bandanna. The woman's bandanna was held in place by a golden headband and completely covered her hair. It was all I could make out of her in the darkness.

The strange warrior woman and the sentinel approached us. "So, let me guess. You too have heard that the pass is sealed and have come here because you need to pass through it and believe that you can kill Andariel to accomplish it? Hah! Do you seriously believe that if 3,000 rogue warriors could not, that you four can?" she said in distain, while eyeing us.

She was beginning to piss me off. I had not come here, all this way, just to hear this hulky broad insult me and waste my time. I was pretty sure she might reconsider my skill level if my skeletons ripped her to pieces before she even had time to turn around or scream in agony. My companions also looked highly insulted, including the amazon.

"Well, obviously you have tried your hardest and not succeeded, so why not give us at least a chance? Besides, what would it be to you if we died? And if we succeed your pass is free once more," the amazon insisted.

I waited for the rogue's response. If that broad said anything rude, I was going to see how she liked the undead. The ground all around this land was bristling with bone energy anyway. It would prove highly useful. The woman's face winced and then turned into a smile.

"You must be an amazon. I've heard of your type. I was only trying to warn you outlanders as well as get a better look at you, to make sure you're not demons in disguise. You can't be too careful…don't take it personally. Indeed your lives are yours to use or destroy as you see fit," the muscular woman grinned, "Try if you must. Our encampment is open to travelers, although we've already got quite a band of would-be heroes gathered here. My name is Kashya, I am the rogue commander. Welcome children, welcome to our hell."

Children were we? Child was I? I didn't see how anyone like her could live a lifestyle like mine and survive the demons of Andariel, let alone Mephisto… I knew for now, I'd have to keep my temper in check though, and it was tremendously hard. No one openly insults a necromancer and brags about it!

We were allowed access into the camp. There were many tents and caravans there, where we were lead to. When I finally jumped off that accursed caravan and my feet once again hit solid ground, I felt a new sense of strength. This place was a ripe battleground. The others and I were ushered by the rogues around the camp to a large fire in the very core of the settlement. There, as the commander had said, sat a very odd collection of people, with every one of them having the look of a warrior.

There was a tall sleek woman wearing black quilted armor, with a pointed face and short, black hair that was cut evenly back to her neck that was carrying what looked like daggers attached around her hands. She was the only woman in the group and what I knew to be an assassin just by her feel. A mage hunter. I could feel the two mages behind me shift uncomfortably as they laid eyes upon her as well.

Apart from the assassin, there were four men sitting around the fire as well. There was a very tall, bulky, and muscular man with blue war tattoos on his arms, chest and face. He was wearing brown wool armor around his lower half and his upper half was completely bare save the straps of leather across it. He was also completely bald, save a ponytail of black hair high on his head that came down to his shoulders. He wielded an axe in his large, rippling arms that gave a glow in the firelight. This man was, to say the least, gargantuan.

There was another man, sitting next to the large one that was about 5'6", easily making him the shortest of the males around the area, wearing crude chainmail armor. He had chestnut brown hair and very light brown eyes. He was well tanned, but his skin was not brown as the sorcerer and sorceress' were. He had a short ponytail at the nape of his neck and he carried a small steel buckler shield, which was lying on the ground. He also carried a sheathed short sword with a red handle.

Beside that man, was a man dressed completely in tan linen and brown bear fur with light green eyes, nowhere near as dark as mine. He had flame orange hair that went to his shoulders, tied in a ponytail as well that was streaked with white along the sides. He also had a goatee upon his otherwise smooth face that carried the same white stripe, only in the middle of his chin. This man carried a wooden club and reinforced wooden buckler shield. Oddly, he had a raven on his shoulder and a gray timber wolf, of all things, lying at his feet.

And the last one, I would know anywhere. A paladin, of Zakarum no doubt, given away by the large gold cross glimmering on his light silver platemail and his round, silver shield. He was about six feet tall exactly by my judgment and had skin of a color in-between the sorceress and the sorcerers'. He had light black fuzz for hair; otherwise he would have been completely bald. He was fairly muscular, as a knight of his order often was, and he carried a sheathed long sword with a light blue handle. His eyes were a light brown, with what would be perceived by others to be warm emotion. In addition, they seemed to burn with a sort of hardy zeal, which made me want to gag.

The minute he saw me, he'd know what I was. And there would be war…. His art and mine were as different as black and white and contrasted just as much. His kind had purposefully dedicated themselves to learning counter-curses of sorts and spells against the undead just to my order in check. Well more to say they learned "prayers". Spells were "ungodly". What business of theirs was it anyway, what we did? What people do? The Order of Zakarum and the Priests of Rathma had been enemies since the very beginning of the brotherhoods. They were the advocates of life and dedicated to undoing all the works of necromancy, condemning them as evil. We were the advocates of death, and we brought it endlessly, freely. We condemned paladins as ignorant.

Death wasn't sacred, it was natural. Death and its powers over spirits are why necromancers existed. We studied it, and harnessed its powers. Control and complete understanding of the spirits and death was our ultimate goal. I knew the true power of death. To learn our art, you must. Everyone who belongs to the brotherhood must. Not to say that we were an order of only men, there were women too. To join our order, or to prove you are a member, like many other mage clans, you go on a quest of sorts, usually one that benefits the order. Mine had been to eliminate a band of assassins tracking our sacred home deep in the jungles of Kurast, and rescue the necromancers they had already taken hostage….

I remembered their screams as I killed them all, and the shock on their faces. Even with their antidotes, my poisoned blade still overtook them. I remembered my dagger dripping almost black with their blood. The hunters had become the hunted, and the hunted had become careless. They had been too great a danger to my people to leave alive, for given anymore time, they would have found our secret home. Our laws clearly stated that no one, save a necromancer, was allowed to know our secret temple locations. The punishment on any that were unfortunate enough to discover us was death. We weren't heartless however. On some instances we would give those who walked into our midst a choice to convert and swear them to secrecy if they did. We weren't ruthless killers like the world thought us to be, but we weren't afraid to kill if need be. Assassins however, were a different story. They would hunt and kill, without mercy, whoever they were told to. The shadow guild has long hated our ways and still did. They didn't bother to find out what we used our magic for, like paladins they just assumed it was evil, and hunted us with a prejudice unparalleled to anything the other mage clans experienced.

The band of assassins that had been my assignment had also held captive three necromancers in favor with our Lord Rathma. They had killed one and I had found her body, and the bloody mess they made in executing her without mercy. They showed no mercy and I showed them none. I had proved myself, defended my people, and felt no remorse. I was proud to have been of service to my people, however my present company would not have seen that act as such, especially the paladin and the amazon. And to avoid a fight that would be such a pain in the ass as well as unproductive, for now I would keep that fact unknown.

We took our seats around the fire. The other five then noticed us. I made sure to stay in the shadow cast by the fire so the paladin wouldn't notice me right away.

"Well, my, my, isn't it strange what this turn of events has brought together? And who might all of you be?" he asked warmly. "I am the paladin Scorpious, of the new order of Zakarum," he introduced himself. I scowled.

"I am Chyemme, amazon warrior of Zerae," she said as she stood and shook the paladin's outstretched hand.

I already hated this man and he hadn't spoken more than two sentences. The lady with the claws stood and scanned us over.

"I'm Maria, I'm from the Viz- Jaq'taar." she said simply. Bingo. A fancy name for a shameless killer. The Viz- Jaq'Taar would be better known to most as an assassin. She nodded towards the amazon, but gave no other sign of greeting.

Then two more stood. The one with the flame hair and the animals introduced himself as the druid, Cloudyous, and the man with the red-handled sword was the warrior, Ryelass. The last of them, the gigantic man with the blue facial tattoos, gave us the name Alminus and the class barbarian. The two mages stood and introduced themselves.

"I'm Vendra of the Zhan-Esu," the sorceress announced while keeping one eye on the assassin.

"And I am Sovellis," the tall man said, while all eyes followed him 6' 9" into the sky.

The only one of us that could remotely compare to his height was the barbarian.

"And who might you be?" I heard the assassin ask me.

Who cared what the paladin would do? It was likely we'd end up in a duel some time or the other anyway. I stood and didn't even have time to speak.

"You're a necromancer! What in the name of Tristram!" the paladin exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes," I said slyly, "Piricus is the name."

His eyes shone with righteousness as he slowly shook my hand. He and I both detested it and the gesture was more for show than manners. He forced a smile, and then addressed our four.

"Welcome friends. I pray our journey together is long and the road is adventurous," he said nobly.

Paladins were a joke, praying about everything. I laughed as I told him so. He forced a grin. It looked like he was struggling not to retaliate. It wouldn't take him long to crack. He shook his head and replied in return,

"You have so much anger that I can see within your soul, Piricus. Perhaps in time, you will find something precious to defend with it."

"I need nothing," was my reply. Who was he to tell me what I needed? Who was he to think he could read my soul like an open book? He just shook his head in pity. I hated pity….

We were approached by a purple-robed figure that walked slowly out from the shadows escorted by the rogue commander. The flame's shadow was cast over the figure's hood preventing me from identifying the person. When they arrived at the fireside, the rogue commander handed the robed figure an old and apparently well-used oak cane. The figure accepted it and with an old, gnarled, and bony hand. Then we heard a thin but strong voice thank the rogue in chainmail. The robed figure pulled back her hood. It was an ancient-looking woman with pure white hair, not unlike my own. However, hers was much thinner. Her old, wrinkly skin drooped off her bones, and the legs she stood on were shaky. There was a certain gleam in the old woman's eyes though, that suggested she may still have some fight left in her. The rogue commander knelt where she stood and bowed her head. The old woman gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and then turned to face us.

"I am Akara, High Priestess of the Order of the Sightless Eye. Welcome travelers, although we don't have much to offer, I pray you find comfort here while you are with us."

The amazon kneeled along with the paladin in a sign of respect beside Kashya. "Madam," she said with the highest tone of respect.

"My lady," said the paladin similarly and kissed her hand.

The old woman smiled softy. "Welcome noble paladin, defender of the light. And you Chyemme, esteemed amazon warrior and daughter of the high priestess Sheltia. Your mother sends her love and regards."

The amazon's eyes widened in surprise. "My mother? But how?" she asked in stunned amazement.

The old rogue knelt down as best as she was able so she was eye to eye with the amazon."Your mother knew good and well your heart. She knew your skills would be well served here. When she heard of our troubles, she knew instantly where you had gone. She told me that you were coming with a group of three others. Amazon innersight is truly amazing as is our own. She's given you your chance child," said Akara quietly.

For the first time in a while, the amazon appeared truly happy. She nodded to the old rogue and stood.

The druid stood next from where he sat around the edge of the fire. "My esteemed Lady Akara, what is your noble wisdom?" he asked with a slight bow of respect.

The woman's old face twisted into a frown and she sighed." I hate to inform you of this, but I feel you must know that there is a place of great evil in the wilderness outside the camp. It is called the Den of Evil. Many foul demons infest these caves. Each day we fear that they draw closer and closer to attacking the encampment. The few of our remaining archers have volunteered to guard our gates, but I fear that it would not be enough to deter an all out attack…" she trailed off.

"Are you implying that you want us to cleanse the Den of Evil for you?" I asked as I cocked an eyebrow.

Akara smiled faintly as she answered,"If you would. My youth is long since gone."

I was outspoken by the barbarian who suddenly piped up."O' course madam! My axe has been thristin` to righ` the wrongs of these demons in yur land. When do we leave?" he asked zealously, like the sorcerer, with incorrect dialect.

"My good friends, please, I would bid you to rest now, for it is dark and the hour is late. I would suggest tomorrow morning. I will take my leave now and leave you to your plans. Good night," she bade us and then walked away slowly. The hulky rogue commander remained only to give everyone a glare and say,

"It's going to take more than killing a few beasts in the wilderness to earn my trust."

I swear that the hulky bitch must have shaken the earth with her arrogance if not her weight, when she walked away.

"I say we take this den now!" said the barbarian.

What a moron. The dumbass was likely to get himself killed and the rest of us along with him if he continued to act that way. He'd lead the demons right to us.

"Unless you want to become my new skeletal mage, you'd better stay put," I said as I leaned back against a nearby tent pole with my arms behind my head and crossed my legs. The stupid giant actually looked hurt by my remark. The fool shouldn't be a warrior if he was so sensitive.

"I admire your bravery Alminus, but there will soon be a time for action. For now we should follow Lady Akara's advice," the paladin said while calmly placing a hand on the giant's shoulder.

The barbarian nodded and managed a "Yeah, yur, probably righ`".

How cute. I definitely wanted to gag now. Just like a paladin, always trying to be a leader. We would see what happened, because I didn't want to follow.

The druid spoke again."Well, perhaps since we might be together for quite some time, we might share our stories so as to get more acquainted with one another?"

"I eat. I sleep. I breathe. I kill. There, life story told," I said sarcastically.

My life story was none of their business. The druid frowned slightly and the amazon glared at me.

"I rescued Piricus from drowning in a shipwreck on my home island of Skovas. We are traveling together at least for now. We met Vendra and Sovellis in Kingsport, which we passed through when we arrived from the island, and since they were coming this way too, they traveled with us. I, myself, came to prove my skill in battle for my tribe," the amazon informed.

I was going to have a serious talk with that woman about speaking for me…. She looked to me, as if she wanted my verification.

"I came to kick Andariel's demon ass, so I can go back to Kurast and get even with Mephisto for wrecking my ship and making me go through this Trag 'Oul damned mess to begin with," I said with a scowl.

The sorcerer took his turn next. "Me and Vendra trying to get to Lut Gholein. Our order send us there on mission. We on ship that had to take another route due to demons and storms. We end up in Kingsport and meet Chyemme and Piricus," he said, confirming the amazon's story.

The warrior took his turn next."If you came here from Kingsport, you undoubtedly passed by my hometown of Tristram. My brother and I grew up there when Leoric was still sane. I had wanted to be a blacksmith, and my mother knew one personally that was willing to teach me up north in Horragath. I left before the trouble began and met Alminus up in Horragath. I heard that when all the executions began happening, my mother and brother left for Lut Gholein. My mother knows a few people up there that would allow her to stay with them until the trouble blew over. I heard later that my brother went back to join the fight at Tristram. At that point we found out that the fight was not just against Leoric, but against Diablo, the Lord of Terror as well. My family hasn't heard from him since. Mother fears the worst, but I won't give up. We came here on the way to Tristram to look for signs of him."

The warrior looked away in remembrance and pain. The barbarian patted him gently on the back."There, there little buddy. I've always lived in Horragath, I'm the son of Larzuk, the blacksmith ther`. I met Ryelass here when he came to be taugh` by my dad. I came here with Ryelass to help em` look for sign o` his brother," the barbarian explained.

The assassin spoke next. "I am what I am, and that's pretty much all I feel up to sharing. Although I'll say that I came here on my way to Kurast from Duncraig where I have been on assignment. Our guild is tracking a particularly dangerous mage, a necromancer," she said and gave me an icy glare, which I returned.

"Why ever would you be doing that?" I asked sarcastically.

The assassin was not amused and continued to glare at me."This necromancer single-handedly killed seven shadow warriors that were on assignment to bring us the location of the necromancer temple. It is against the code of mage ethics that all the clans agreed upon to hide themselves from us. All but the necromancers allowed us the knowledge of where they reside. They understand the dangers of corrupt magic, and welcome our intervention. But I'm sure you already know this," she said glaring at me.

I knew perfectly well what she was talking about. "We like our privacy. It was our right to decline that agreement and we used it. Our location is none of your business and you won't get it out of me, so don't try," I laughed.

The assassin scowled."You probably know the guy I'm after. He's called the Emerald Prince Darkblade," she recalled for all to hear.

"I might know him. But I'll never tell you," I said dangerously.

Inwardly, I laughed at the irony. She was after me, and she'd never know. How ironic it was that I should meet my would- be killer, here of all places. I found it extremely amusing that the shadow guild would also send someone after me to avenge their assassins when I killed them to avenge my brethren. What an adventure this would be.

"Anyway, I'm here until we can clear that pass and I'll help in anyway I can. I'm watching you, Piricus," she said dangerously as she fiddled with her hand daggers she called katars.

The paladin, whom had sat quite still and took what the assassin had said in, sighed and spoke next. He clearly didn't want me and the assassin fighting, which was not a problem, because I was more concerned about him than her anyway.

"I was trained as a paladin of Zakarum in the temple at Kurast. I went away on my holy mission just weeks ago, only to receive a letter that I am needed again in Kurast, for Mephisto has blackened our land and that Andariel was blocking the high mountain pass. My order wishes me to aid the rogues but then return as swiftly as possible, and so I am here."

Hurry home paladin. I didn't want him here anyway.

The druid stroked his pet's head gently. "I came here no for no other reason than the north wind told me to. Druids are very in tune with nature and even up in Scosglen, the druidic order felt a disturbance here."

I rolled my eyes. The wind was not even remotely alive, it had no spirit. The wind did not speak. This hermit obviously had a people problem. Alone with stinking animals for years…I could only imagine.

"Bullshit," I said to him as I rolled my eyes in disbelief.

The druid's stupid animal growled at me with fangs bared as its neck fur stood on end. The druid spoke softly to calm it down. "Easy, Belthem. Easy. It's okay."The wild beast seemed to calm immediately at the sound of his voice and his reassurance."You're entitled to believe what you want," he said diplomatically.

I rolled my eyes again. What a group we would be.

"How is it that you know what Cloudyous can do, Piricus? I would hold your tongue unless you can understand what you are so quickly dismissing."

The paladin. This guy barely knew me and already he was acting like my mother.

"Yes mother," was my response.

The paladin put his head in his hands and rubbed his temple."This is going to be a long journey."

"Isn't that what you just prayed for, paladin? When we arrived? Oh don't tell me you've changed your mind already?" I mocked.

The holy man sighed and ignored me."I suggest we all get tents mates to save the rogues some space," the paladin suggested.

"A good idea. I propose that the three of us women will stay in one tent and you men split into two tents of three," the assassin agreed.

The paladin looked among us for the best way to divide us, seeing as no one had any objections.

"How about Ryelass, Piricus and I will stay in one tent, and Alminus, Cloudyous, and Sovellis can stay in the other?" he asked. "Anyone have a complaint?" he asked and a little too late he realized what he had said and turned to me expectantly.

That was real cute. He was going to try and keep me within his eyesight. I was not sharing a living space with that man. I would just as soon kill him in my sleep, rather than stay within five feet of him and his life of prayer to ignorance.

"I watch out for my own interests paladin. I don't need a babysitter," I snickered looking into his eyes.

Surprisingly he didn't argue."Alright then, Alminus, would you please switch tents with Piricus?" he requested.

`The large man merely nodded.

I followed my memory back to where the rogues had parked our caravan and retrieved my trunk of belongings along side the mage. Then I followed him to our tent, which was no more than a linen canvas strapped down to a frame of sticks. Inside were wooden stick frames with straw packed in them for a mattress. There were three such beds in the tent. I threw my trunk at the foot of the bed to the far left and then pulled out my bone wand and tapped the iron padlock on my trunk. To the surprise of my roommates, a milky white mist flowed out of the end and swirled around the lock. Seconds later it hardened and became bone.

"What are you doing?" inquired the male mage.

"Keeping the rats out," I replied.

"Rats?" He asked in confusion.

The druid, whom had entered the room seconds ago, frowned upon hearing this.

"What's the matter druid? Rats precious to you?"

He scowled."I know what you meant by rats. No one here would ever dream of touching anything of yours. I for one know that I wouldn't want to see the bones and body parts you undoubtedly have in your trunk. Besides, why would we still from a real rat?"

I smirked back."If it's bone you don't want, I think I can manage… Tomerith Gotril."

A huge clay golem made of earth sprung up from the tent floor upon my command. The sorcerer, whom had been watching this argument, jumped back in surprise.

"Magic in tent not a good idea!" he warned.

I didn't pay any attention to him."Golem, introduce yourself."

My golem did as told and ran straight at the druid. He dodged as my golem swung a heavy muddy fist at him. He ducked another punch and did a dive roll out of the tent. My golem tore down the door flaps as it slowly stormed after the druid. I followed. The druid had baited the golem outside to a more open area and looked me straight in the eye as I came outside as well. He raised his hands to the sky and shouted, "Metamorpho Lupis", to the night sky. Suddenly I began to see a change in him.

His face stretched out and began to shift. His nose and mouth became to turn square. His body thinned and became more limber…and covered with grayish-brown hair. His teeth stretched and sharpened and lastly his eyes turned a wild gold. He had become some kind of human wolf. A werewolf. I had never seen such a thing in my twenty-three year existence. With great speed, he leapt forward and slashed with his large nail-like claws. The arm of my golem flew off. The dirt composition shifted and he grew another arm. The druid in werewolf form jumped with his wolf's feet about twenty feet into the air above my golem. He raised his arm and came crashing down with glittering claws. He kicked the golem while it was still stunned and swiped its head cleanly off. Although the golem was decapitated, the druid continued to slash savagely with his paw-hands until he finally relented and stepped aside. The golem stood for a moment, then fell to pieces back into the earth from which it came. The druid gave a shudder and suddenly the hair and wolf features sucked back into his body. He was completely human again.

He walked over to me in my sense of shock and smiled."Stick to the bones. Earth is my specialty."

I couldn't believe it. He had defeated my golem…. Maybe, just maybe, we could possibly defeat Andariel….

Instead of going back to the tent, even though it was almost three in the morning, I decided to walk around the camp. I was particularly intrigued by the sound of soft pounding of metal that I heard from one corner. I followed my ears until I had come upon a half-tent beside a pit of red-hot coals. There were many weapon racks all around and enough various armors on the walls to supply a small army. I walked around the half-tent to the back. There I found a rogue woman with reddish overalls, black pants, and French-braided sandy blonde hair leaning over a large anvil tempering fresh iron arrowheads. To my surprise, she noticed me. She put down her hammer and walked over to me.

"Hi there! I'm Charsi, the blacksmith here in camp. It's good to finally see some strong adventurers around here," she said extending her sooty hand.

When I didn't shake her hand she looked down and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, my hands are a real mess. I was fulfilling a scouts order for more arrowheads," she apologized in her country twang.

"Hm." Was all I said in response.

"Might I ask your name?" she requested affably.

"No one of great importance is all you need to know," I replied to her flatly.

She sighed. "Well, okay then. If you ever need anything for your armor or weapons come see me," she said quietly and turned back to her work.

I walked the opposite direction and soon came to a caravan and tent full of digging tools, pots, pans, armor, gems, gold, and spare weapons .

I began examining everything when a sly voice called to me."Hey, you there! What do you think you're do-!"

I turned around to see a short, pig of a man dressed in artic clothing. He had stopped mid-sentence and had a look of horror on his face.

"You're, you're a necromancer! Oh man, I never liked your type and your creepy undead stuff! You're all too powerful for your own good in the worst way and always bother us innocents…."

I cocked an eyebrow. "And?"

This little guy was obviously frightened of me, for he trembled from head to toe. He had probably gotten into a spot of trouble with another necromancer before from the looks of it. He stumbled backwards when I spoke. It took him a second to recover then he said shakily,

"Your money's still good though. Howdy partner, I'm Gheed, and I can already tell that I'll be your best friend in this forsaken camp. A spare weapon, some gold, a small gem… is all I want in exchange for whatever equipment you'll need for whatever quests you might undertake. Now, now, now, don't be shy! All of my items are guaranteed for life and come with a two day warrantee!"

"I don't buy from people who insult and fear me," was my flat out response.

"Well, well," he grumbled, "I do gambling too you know, if that's your sort of thing."

I continued to glare down upon him. "Really, and what might I get from you that I couldn't get on my own?"

Gheed shook like a tree when his fat body laughed, although uneasily. "Many, many things my necromancer friend. Element enhanced weapons, fire, ice, poison, lightning… weapons that specifically target the undead, weapons to make you stronger or more accurate…armors made from all metals and hides, need I go on?" the little man piped.

I was feeling annoyed and unmotivated. I'm sure it showed in my face because Gheed frowned."I gotta work on a less intelligent crowd- not to say that you're not intelligent," he corrected quickly.

Let's see how much of a coward he was…I swiftly moved over to him, placed my hand around his throat and picked him up, a difficult task because he was so heavy, but I succeeded nonetheless. He screamed like a frightened child.

"Please, don't hurt me! I take it back!" He shouted.

I grinned and dropped him to the ground."I wasn't going to kill you, at least not yet. I only buy from reliable sources."

Gheed stood up and brushed himself off. He laughed too."I knew you were bluffing," he lied.

I allowed my eyes to momentarily glow with green necromantic energy, giving me a supernatural, demon look. He squeaked and hurriedly stepped back, shaking from head to toe once more. I scowled in disgust and walked away. I reached my tent and walked inside. The sorcerer and the druid were already asleep. I was only challenged by the druid's wolf pet that lie at his master's bedside softly growling at me. The raven was asleep on his perch, on his master's trunk. I went to my bed and climbed in, after kicking off my boots. I closed my eyes and the world faded away….


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Hi everybody, just letting you know that the revamping is going pretty well, but since my chapters are so long I had to break them into pieces. So really pay attention to whose point of view it is. Look at it this way, one quest in the game, no matter how many parts I broke it into will always be from the same POV. And also I would like to add a special thank you to BranMuffinPower for giving me motivation to get this done sooner and post some new stuff. Thanks Bran you're the best =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2 I'm merely writing this for fun. The only things I own are my character names.

Into the Den of Evil

Chyemme

I awoke early the next morning to the sound of armor being strapped on. My assassin tent mate, Maria, was fastening the clasps on her midnight black quilted armor. I had been unsure as to what a Viz-Jaq'Taar was when she introduced herself last night, but Vendra had clarified for me. She said it had been a fancy name for someone who hunts mages, an assassin. Maria looked up.

"Well, well, decide to finally join the world of the living? I hope you're up for a long day," she said as she tossed me my red-tinted leather armor. Vendra, my other roommate, I saw, was busy in another corner of the room, pulling on her robes. I hurried out of bed and to finish dressing; it looked like I had slept in a few minutes. Sleep on something immobile had felt so welcoming, especially since I had spent the last few weeks sleeping in the back of a moving caravan. When I had fastened the last buckle on my armor, I grabbed my boots and reached for my spear and javelins.

Maria had already finished dressing, and was outside, flexing with her katars. Vendra also had finished dressing, and she joined me on my way out of the tent.

"That felt really good, to sleep on something that doesn't wobble or shake," she said with a laugh, getting an appreciative nod from me, "I get that you know the feeling?"

I nodded again, as I held up the canvas tent flap for her to pass under. From there, I made my way through the camp to the campfire pit, passing several of the people I had met the previous night along the way. The druid, Cloudyous was untying his raven from its perch and feeding his wolf. Alminus, the barbarian was sharpening his axe, and his friend Ryelass was nearby, talking to Kashya. Sovellis was talking to Vendra a short ways away, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Piricus off in a corner by himself. Continuing on to the campfire pit, I spotted Scorpious the paladin enjoying his morning meal. He looked up from his breakfast as I approached. He swallowed what he was chewing and greeted me.

"Good morning Lady Chyemme. You look well-rested. Did you sleep well?" he asked in his velvety tenor. He was a real gentleman.

We had men back home of course, and there were a few that always caught my eye in the aspects of courtesy and respect, however, in general most men were more or less rude and arrogant. Therefore, meeting a man like Scorpious was a rare treat for me.

"Yes, and you?" I replied.

"As well as came be expected for one who must fight demons in the morning," he replied. We both laughed.

It was then that I noticed that Piricus was watching us. I looked away. The steely, piercing gaze from his cold emerald eyes was too much.

Scorpious smiled at me and tore off a piece of bread. "Here, you'll need some sustenance," he said, offering it to me. I accepted gladly, happy to have anything to look at but Piricus. My amazon innersight told me that he was still glaring at me. I didn't turn to look. For some reason, I suspected that he might actually have an innersight of his own. Not to mention, from what I'd heard about necromancers, direct eye contact made it easier for them to put curses on people. Scorpious noticed my inner discomfort.

"What's wrong, Chyemme? You look troubled," he said softly.

I figured I could trust a holy man, so I shared my thoughts. "It's Piricus. I've been traveling with him for a while now, and even so, I still don't know much about him. I don't know, there's just this . . . mystery around him."

Scorpious gave me a look of contemplation. "Hmm . . . that one has a darkness about him, an emptiness. He seeks to be efficient in all that the Priests of Rathma do. He focuses only on death, never life. And that, I think, is part of his problem. I think time will tell. Yes. We shall see . . . But everyone, every soul has a chance at redemption, no matter how slim," he said trailing off in thought. He suddenly shook his head. "Sorry, just wondering out loud. Well, we may need some antidote potions, while I'm thinking about it. I've heard even the river water is poisonous now. I'll have to see Lady Akara. If you'll please excuse me," he said politely, dismissing himself and leaving.

I looked to Piricus again, still seemingly feeling his eyes upon me. Oddly enough, he motioned me over to him. I had no clue what he could possibly want, but I went over anyway. Piricus crossed his arms and leaned against the encampment fence.

"Whatever that sentimental fool of paladin told you about redemption or anything about me, don't believe a word of it," he said unemotionally.

How could he have heard us?

"What Scorpious and I speak of is none of your business. Even so, we said nothing about you," I lied and turned away. I gave a small gasp when seconds later I was seized in a firm and painful grip. Piricus had grabbed my shoulder, and he turned me around, forcing me to look at him once more. His glare could have been a demon's . . .

"Lying to me, of all people, really isn't smart, amazon," he said gravely.

I grabbed his hand and pressed my fingernails into his pressure points. He immediately let go, more out of surprise than pain.

"And grabbing an amazon warrior is not exactly the smartest move either," I shot back.

Piricus laughed. "Is that so? I don't think you'd last ten seconds against me, especially if all you can do is squirm like you just did."

"You think too highly of yourself," I replied , as I punched at him, to catch him off guard. "We've been over this before."

Piricus merely raised an eyebrow as he caught my fist in his palm. He pushed me back. He gave me a sarcastic smile and then tossed me a black vial out of his pocket.

"That's an antidote you'll probably need the first five seconds outside of this camp, girl," he smirked then added, "We wouldn't you to die fighting your first opponent, now would we?"

"Knowing you, it's probably poison," I grumbled.

"I'll leave that decision up to you," he said with that same, irritating smile that I was beginning to become accustom to.

I wanted to slap him, but I heard Alminus roar,"EVERYONE TO THE FIRE!"

Piricus rolled his eyes. "Looks like the nanny wants to see us," he said sarcastically and walked in that direction.

I looked down at the vial in my hand. It was ebony black and fizzy, and truly looked more like poison than an antidote. Nevertheless, I'd keep it and use it later, either way. I followed after Piricus to the campfire pit. Everyone was gathered there, and I took an open seat next to Maria.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Planning," she remarked simply.

Scorpious entered the circle, and walked to the center of the campfire pit where everyone could see him.

"Well, the plan is simple. We search for this den, and then cleanse it. We stay together," he said simply.

Piricus raised an eyebrow."What? _That's it_? No speech of nobility, no long, lengthy spiel on the virtues of demon hunting that put everyone else to sleep? You disappoint me, Paladin."

Scorpious sighed. "Your impertinence is less than enjoyable, Piricus," he said matter-of-factly.

Piricus gave him a mocking grin. "I'm just getting warmed up, paladin."

Scorpious just sighed again and good-naturedly bore Piricus' harassment. Scorpious, in my mind's eye, was a very open and patient person. Just putting up with Piricus' blatant disrespect of him was a feat in itself. Scorpious had already gained a strong amount of respect with me. Piricus, on the other hand, was getting on my nerves. Hopefully all the Priests of Rathma weren't this smart-mouthed.

"Okay, so besides sarcastic commentary, does anyone have anything else to add?" Scorpious continued.

Ryelass looked up from where he was staring into the dull fire embers."I heard about a zombie that can cast ice magic from some of the rogues. They call it CorpseFire," he announced.

"Whoa! What? Why wasn't anyone else told about this little bit of information?" Vendra asked suddenly. This new bit of information seemed to have grabbed everyone's attention.

"Probably because we not ask," Sovellis stated in a soothing manner to Vendra, whose quick temper was beginning to brew.

Maria stood, grasping her katars. "Well, we can spend all day sitting around talking about it, or we could just go now and deal with Corpsefire when we reach it."

There was collective agreement among the group, and without much more to say, we all gathered our equipment and headed out to the Blood Moor Bridge. Everyone around me, including Piricus, looked high with expectations as we gazed out onto the landscape beyond. We all knew, the minute we entered the moor, there'd be no turning back.

We all took our first steps out onto The Blood Moor.

"And so it begins," Cloudyous sighed.

_I will purge this land of all evil_, I thought to myself, a conviction most of this party seemed share, judging by the looks on their faces.

We didn't walk more than ten feet before we heard a strange growling noise. I turned to find myself face to face with a very odd creature. I looked like a mutated porcupine. It was green, with a long, pointed snout. It had long, sharp reptilian claws and lengthy needle-like quills along ridges on its back. It let out a low hiss and then flung some of its quills at me. I ducked and then hurled a javelin into its neck. The creature spouted blood from the wound for a number of seconds before falling lifelessly to the ground.

Piricus, whom had been in front of me, turned around and looked on the scene. He smirked.

"Oh goodie. Our amazon has just slain the first demon." He then proceeded to walk over to the corpse. I thought he might be checking to see if it was truly dead, so what he did next surprised me. He passed his hand over the corpse and then raised his hand while muttering a few unintelligible words. A thick, eerie-looking yellow-green mist arced out of his upturned hand downward onto the corpse like a water fall. Seconds later, the corpse exploded from the inside out. Right in the middle of the entrails stood an oddly-arranged skeleton, with a bone axe.

My own surprise slightly shocked me. In the time that I had been traveling with Piricus, I had known he was a necromancer, but I had never seen him use necromancy before, save the one curse he put on me when we first met. I had not fully known what to expect, so I clasped my javelins and kept them close. The creature was so evil-looking in and of itself, that I expected it to attack me. To my surprise, however, it walked straight past me and stood placidly at Piricus' side. Slightly disturbing, was the fact that as awkward as the creature was, it didn't even look remotely out of place standing there beside him.

Alminus looked on. "Interestin'. Is that the extent `o necromancy?" he asked.

Piricus rolled his eyes. "You wish. This is barely scratching the surface."

I shivered involuntarily. The fact that he managed to take a non-human creature and derive a human skeleton from it already showed a tremendous amount of skill. But truth be told, I actually found this demonstration of necromancy to be impressive, as simple as Piricus claimed it was. I mean, how many people could understand death enough to harness a power such as that? But in the same way, it was also frightening. Tampering with death in such a way was bound to have some sort of consequences.

I had always been taught that life and death were equilibrium; that without death, life could not exist, and without life, neither could death. By reanimating the dead, the Priests of Rathma tampered with a delicate balance. They were playing deity. And no story of mortals playing god had ever ended well. But then again, after centuries of performing their art, the necromancers must know what they are doing. . . .

Another surprise came when Scorpious said nothing about this. Piricus didn't stop there. I saw Cloudyous frown when Piricus continued his summoning, this time upon the ground itself. Another bizarre creature, this one looking like a mass of walking mud, emerged from it. This time Scorpious frowned.

"Well, while we're here, Cloudyous you might want to summon your animals as well."

Cloudyous nodded and cupped his hands around his mouth. He made a squawking noise not unlike his raven. Soon, we had been joined by five ravens, and Belthem, Cloudyous' wolf familiar.

After this, Scorpious knelt for a prayer, but was rudely, although not unexpectedly, interrupted by Piricus.

"Save it for the chapel, Paladin," he said with a disdainful scowl as he and his necromantic companions walked ahead.

I offered Scorpious an apologetic smile and a hand up. He regained his feet and seconds later we heard Maria let out a loud battle yell. She had just kicked what appeared to be a walking, rotting corpse.

I immediately looked to Piricus, as he looked at the creature with keen interest. I expected it to be of his doing, but he looked just as surprised as the rest of us.

"Zombies . . .," he muttered more to himself than anyone, "the taint has reached farther than they expect if . . ."

I didn't hear the rest. I was distracted by Ryelass, who suddenly did a driving roll under another zombie's punch, and then removed its head from behind in one clean swipe.

When we were sure both of the creatures were dead, we stood over them, examining them.

"Tell me those aren't what I think they are," Vendra said slowly, quickly averting her gaze from the grotesque creature.

"I'm afraid so," said Maria, standing from where she had bent down to examine the corpse.

"But how? The rogues told us, that this area was mos` ly jus` animals. There aren` even any graveyards here," Alminus remarked.

"That just goes to show how much you know," Piricus snorted.

Scorpious shot him a disapproving glare. "It doesn't matter how they got here. The fact is that they are here, and they are something we'll have to deal with. For now, let's just keep moving."

"Wise, paladin. Like we couldn't have come to that conclusion on our own," Piricus retorted.

I sighed. I could tell this was going to be a long day.

We continued to wander the area, for Lady Akara wasn't able to give us a precise locale for the Den. We killed more zombies and quill rats (the name which I had discovered was used for the weird porcupine mutants) in that time, and even encountered a few scattered chests and abandoned dwellings in which we were able to salvage a few useable items, including spare gold pieces here and there. Other than this, the only other thing of interest we ran across was a large, totem pole that gave an energy boost when you touched it. Scorpious called it a stamina shrine.

About mid-day we stopped to rest in a small clearing along a sort of rocky wall that had probably been built by the rogues long ago. We had yet to find the Den of Evil, but I did not believe it was for a lack of trying. The Rogue lands were vast and unfamiliar to us. A guide would have really been of use, although with the shaky defense of the encampment and demons on the loose, the rogues probably couldn't have afforded to lend us even one person. I was not discouraged, I had faith we would find it soon. But at the moment, we had more pressing matters to attend to. We were quickly beginning to observe that staying stationary in the rogue lands for too long of a time was a dangerous folly.

A couple of quill rats had wandered into our presence, immediately becoming savage without provocation. It was nothing to be too concerned about, for they were easy to kill, but wait too long and the dying cry of one would most certainly attract others.

Vendra sighed from where she leaned against the stone wall, and twirled her hands around in a circular motion at the wrists. A red glow began to emerge around them, and she suddenly let loose a sizeable inferno of fire from them when the quill rats came close enough. They were immediately scorched to death, and nothing but badly charred bones remained behind when Vendra was finished. She turned around, right into the chest of an on-coming zombie, and let out a loud shriek. I didn't blame her, zombies were grotesque creatures to everybody but Piricus, it seemed.

Sovellis came to her rescue, shooting a bolt of lightning out from his short staff. Even though it was dead, the creature was still affected by the shock. It died in a spark of electricity, falling short of Vendra's feet, causing her to hastily move back. She brushed herself off.

"My hero," Vendra said sarcastically to Sovellis, although I could detect an undertone of true gratitude most would have looked over.

Sovellis merely shrugged.

"I should think you'd be a little more grateful," Maria grumbled.

"Duck, Maria," I warned, as I flung a javelin into a zombie that had been creeping up behind her.

When we were completely free of adversaries, we resumed walking. Scorpious, however lingered beside the corpses for a moment, apparently thinking of something.

"Wait a moment. I have an idea," he announced, "Cloudyous, your wolf, Belthem, can he track a demon's scent?"

Cloudyous considered to himself for a moment. "I'm sure he can if he's up to it," he answered, stroking Belthem's head, "Let me ask him."

"Oh, so now you can speak to beasts, druid? If this is the case, why the hell haven't you decided to tell your little mutant friends not to kill us?" Piricus scoffed, as his golem lumbered aimlessly beside him.

Cloudyous sighed. "If only I could. It's not that easy. . . This land, it has twisted the creatures here. They can no longer speak to me, and I wonder if they can even understand me . . . But that's for another time," he said, and knelt down in front of his wolf.

Cloudyous looked directly into Belthem's eyes, and Belthem locked gazes with him. Both of their eyes started to take on a subtle golden glow, before it faded and their normal eye colors resumed.

"He's wondering what these creatures are . . . He says they smell wrong. He also says that he could definitely smell a large group of them, and will find them if we ask," Cloudyous concluded.

"Remarkable," Ryelass stated in bewilderment, speaking for mostly everyone in the company.

"You've got yourself a real special beast ther`," Alminus agreed.

"Can you really speak with him? Is it some type of magic?" Vendra asked in a respectful manner.

Cloudyous nodded. "More or less we can read each other's mind. Our speech comes mostly from thoughts, feelings, and images. There really are no words. Wolves are very intelligent. He saw what I wanted him to do in my mind, and from his I saw him doing it. You might find this a surprise, but it isn't magic any more than our speech to each other is," he explained.

"Very useful talent. I bet it take long time to learn," Sovellis replied with an amused smile.

"It does," Cloudyous answered, and nodded to Belthem, who took this as some kind of signal.

Belthem put his wet, cold nose to the dirt and began sniffing. He wrinkled his nose and then howled. Everyone covered their ears and above the piercing howl, Piricus yelled,

"Good work druid! Now even Andariel in hell shouldn't have a problem finding us!"

Belthem took off running to the west, with everyone following closely behind. It wasn't long before we found ourselves staring at a large hole inset into an outcrop of rock. There was a grisly-looking banner hanging outside, flapping in the wind. The hole was an entrance, leading into a cave.

"Looks like we've found the Den of Evil," Vendra remarked.

"And what would make it more obvious sorceress? The big banner with the impaled skull or the demon footprints?" Piricus replied, gesturing to a grouping of odd tracks in the moor's mud, leading into the cave.

Scorpious looked around at the group and nodded, letting his gaze linger on Piricus and his undead companions with mistrust before disappearing into the cave.

Maria gave a little grin before following after him. "It's going to be an all or nothing kind of day," she said with a slightly righteous zeal in her eyes.

Vendra and Sovellis shared a quick glance between them and Sovellis placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder they before walked in together.

I followed in after them. _Here we go_, I thought to myself. I expected the den to be a cave much like the ones found anywhere. Closed and confined in most places. But what I found upon entering, was that in actuality, the Den was comprised of large, open space. There were walls and stalagmites of course, but they seemed few and far between. How could such open space exist underground? This place was like an unnatural underground palace. Limestone walls held the place up, and solid rock was the carpet. Ice and rock stalactites hung from the rocky ceiling, like menacing chandeliers. All of these features were natural to caves. The strangest feature of this open space, however, were the torches on the walls. Something was obviously living down here. And I could feel that it was something evil.

"We'll split up. We'll cover more ground more quickly that way," Scorpious decided. He seemed to be the unofficial leader of this roughly assembled 'team', so we seemed to follow his plans.

"Chyemme, Piricus, Vendra, Alminus, and Maria go west. Myself, Cloudyous, Sovellis, and Ryelass will go east. We will meet back here when the den is cleansed," he announced.

Piricus seemed put in a better mood by this decision."Finally," he muttered under his breath.

Scorpious either didn't hear him, or pretended not to, and motioned for his team to follow his lead. Our party broke apart, with Vendra and Sovellis sharing a quick glance and nod between them. It may not have been obvious to them how much they cared about each other, but it was plain as day to the rest of us.

Once we split up, Maria took the head of our group and we began moving westward throughout the tunnels. Piricus actually grinned for a second when I looked back at him.

"If there was a God, I'd probably praise him right now. I thought we'd never get rid of that pompous sword-slinger. Just maybe, with any luck, he'll find Corpsefire and die the horrible death that all paladins deserve."

I saw Maria twitch up ahead, but she seemed not to want to get drawn into a fight. I believe everybody else just chose to ignore his comment, although not without some gesture of disapproval. Alminus frowned, Vendra scowled, and I just shook my head. I didn't yet fully understand why necromancers and paladins, or maybe just Piricus, hated each other so. It was a discussion I knew I would undoubtedly have with Piricus sometime in the future, but I wanted to better understand before I did. So I let his remark slide for the present. After several moments of tense silence, Vendra found a way to break it. She changed the topic back to one of pertinence.

"I personally don't want to face him," she began, with a reference to Corpsefire, "zombies are nasty enough already, but one with extra powers? But then again, I really hope the others don't run into him either."

"Are you afraid of zombies, Vendra? You should probably get used to seeing them. Rumors have it they are appearing all over the sanctuary in some form or other. I could tell you some of the horror stories I've seen involving them. They aren't pretty. Most involve necromancers," Maria said with a sudden ice in her voice that was directed at Piricus.

Vendra didn't respond. From what I gather, the fact that Maria was a supposed "mage hunter" made Vendra very stiff and hesitant around her.

Piricus, however, answered readily."Sounds to me like you're the one who's scared, assassin. Although I'd have to say, you're probably not nearly frightened enough. If you'd encountered a true necromancer, I seriously doubt you'd be standing here today."

"You over-estimate your order. And you _all_ forget your place. But I don't have to justify myself to you, and I won't bother. God knows what the lot of you are like anyway . . . Of all the mage orders, yours is the darkest. Assassins have been forced to put an end to more corrupt necromancers in the course of our history than all the other orders combined. I think that says all that needs to be said right there," she said bitterly, apparently deep in some type of remembrance.

I saw Piricus' eyes flash dangerously in the dark, and thought for a brief moment he might attack Maria. Oddly enough, the dangerous glare turned into something I swear was a flicker of knowing. It wasn't just Piricus the tension was building with either. At the mention of 'ending' mages, Vendra had tensed up considerably. This conversation wasn't going to end well if it kept going. Alminus must have taken note of it as well, for he took this opportunity to end it.

"I say we jus` try to work together and do our share o` cleansing this cave. Vent whatever anger ya got on tha demons. We'll be done faster," he remarked in his thick dialect.

Maria nodded, apparently calming herself. "You're right, Alminus. I forget myself."

"Hey, what's that sound?" Vendra asked suddenly.

"Yur righ` I hear it too," he exclaimed, with his ears perked, straining to find the source of the sound.

I closed my eyes and focused. I felt my innersight go to work in finding the source of the strange noise. A picture of something that resembled a red version of a Carver demon filled my head. The noise came through clearly. _Rakanishu_. It was some sort of demon word, and these creatures were yelling it like a battle cry. Clearly they had sensed our intrusion into the cave.

I opened my eyes and found a familiar sight. My innersight had left a trail of sparkling stars leading around the corner.

"What are those stars?" Vendra inquired in a state of semi-concern, "Where did they come from? They just suddenly appeared."

"They don't feel evil," Alminus remarked in addition, reaching out with a finger to prod the star closest to him.

"They are a sign of Amazon Inner Sight. A pathway of energy, really. The creature is a Fallen. We can follow the 'stars' to find it," I answered.

"Well, they certainly are a shine, aren` they," Alminus remarked as he covered his eyes. The star he had poked erupted into a bright light upon his touch. In this dark atmosphere, all of them were pretty bright for that matter.

Piricus took the lead, and followed the star trail around the corner, without so much as another word, evoking a scowl from Vendra. We all walked around the corner to find a small group of fallen. However there was one in particular that stood out above the rest. It was two feet taller than the rest, wore a straw loincloth, and wore skulls over its shoulders as armor. Its horns were longer and more pronounced than the others, and it carried a long wooden staff. They picked up on our presence instantly, even in the near-darkness, and one immediately charged Piricus' skeleton with a loud screech.

"Kill it," Piricus ordered apathetically.

The little demon closed in from its charge and slashed the skeleton's thigh bone with a miniature scimitar. It didn't even leave a scratch. The skeleton didn't take to this too well and brought its bone axe down on top of the creature's skull, cleaving it in half while the golem crushed another underneath its foot.

About that time, Alminus let out a piercing war cry that shattered our eardrums and those of the fallen. He charged forward and slashed a Fallen's arm off, then slashed its head off. He let out another thundering cry and threw his hands up in triumph.

His victory was short-lived. The large fallen raised his hand, with an upturned palm, not unlike what Piricus would have done. An evil yellow glow appeared around the three Fallens' corpses. The Fallen that Alminus had just decapitated had its head reattached to its body along with its arm. The one the golem had crushed stood up again, completely whole, and the one the skeleton had split in half pulled itself together.

"What in hell!" Vendra squeaked in surprise.

"The large one resurrected the others," Maria growled and readied her katars.

"It's a shaman. Golem, take care of it," Piricus commanded briskly.

As if it had been waiting to be introduced, the shaman shot a fireball out of its staff, which hit Piricus' golem head on and caused it to superheat then explode. Piricus had an absolutely sour expression on his face, as he drew his dagger and prepared for battle.

The Fallen Shaman looked around at us, before zeroing in on Vendra. It yelled something that sounded like '_Booga', _before charging after her. The rest of the fallen swarmed around us. Each of us responded in our own way. Alminus was jumping over nearby rock, trying not to become cornered. Maria had jumped up and grabbed a low-hanging stalagmite, swinging to kick her attackers with her feet. Over in another corner, Piricus was beating them off with his wand in one hand, his dagger in the other.

Two rushed me, hacking air zealously. I flung a javelin straight through one's chest and yielded aside while the other ran straight past me and almost collided with Vendra who was trying to run from the shaman while dodging fireballs.

"I didn't ask for this!" she yelled miserably.

Piricus had gained some sort of red aura when I next looked at him, and so had the fallen around him. It was strange, whenever he hit one of the fallen they seemed to take twice the damage. Maria had just finished off one of her attackers with a powerful kick and dropped gracefully to one knee, thrusting her katars into the abdomen of another. Alminus had wasted no time in slicing another fallen in half before finishing off two more with smooth strokes of his axe. The Fallen that had run past me circled round and swung its scimitar at me. I stepped back swiftly, causing it to miss. Then, using my short spear, I stabbed it through the neck. Fortunately, none of them were resurrected this time, due to the fact that the Shaman was still chasing Vendra, who was now trying to parry blows from a small knife it had donned.

"A good warm-up if I do say so myself," Alminus said with gusto as he made his way over to me.

Maria, whom had finished dispatching the fallen around her, immediately turned to help Vendra. She placed two of her fingers from both hands on either side of her temples, and then focuses her eyes on the Shaman. She thrust her head slightly forward in a controlled motion, like a cobra, and the next thing we knew, the fallen shaman had been rammed sideways into a cave wall by some unseen force.

No longer being chased, Vendra turned around, panting heavily.

"Die you little . . ."

The rest of her statement was followed up by a string of rather vulgar words, before, now at a safe casting distance, she unleashed a bolt of pure lightning from her hand. The spell hit the shaman full force and electrocuted it on the spot. With sparks still flying, it fell to the ground dead, never to raise another fallen. When it died, it dropped a flask of some type of gooey, red liquid.

"What is that stuff," I asked as Vendra picked it up.

"A healing potion. A minor one, but it might still come in handy," Vendra answered, regaining herself and putting the potion in one of her robe pockets. _RAKEVER._ We all turned around to see Piricus' skeleton slash the one remaining fallen so hard that it spiraled in the air before landing on the ground, dead. That particular fallen had dropped a flask of thin, blue liquid.

"A valuable thing too," said Piricus, as he also picked up and pocketed the vial.

"Mana potion," Vendra said to me simply.

"Tha` was an adventure. Let's go on," Alminus remarked to no one in particular and walked ahead down the winding cave path. The rest of us followed suit. The next passage lead to an even larger room filled with more fallen and three shamans. I saw Piricus roll his eyes as he surveyed the scene.

"And how the rogues didn't perceive an army of this size sneaking up on them . . ." he muttered in annoyance.

"Take out the shamans first this time," Maria instructed before she darted towards the first shaman.

"I got the one in the corner!" Alminus called with the same battle zeal as before.

As they rushed off, I took notice of the twenty or so Fallen that were encircling me, Piricus, and Vendra.

"Go on amazon, we'll hold them," Piricus commanded harshly, but assuredly.

I was the closest to the third shaman, so I didn't question his logic. I ran towards the third shaman, roughly brushing some of the closer fallen away. The creature's evil, red eyes locked on me. It waved its staff around in the air and sent a huge fireball hurtling towards me. I quickly dodged aside and then resumed my path towards it. When I had gotten nearly four feet away, it drew a crude, rusty knife and swiped at me. I ducked in the nick of time as the blade sliced the air where my neck had been only seconds before. Luckily for me, in its attack the creature had leaned in closer to me, leaving it open to my counterattack. It was completely off balance. I quickly kneed the shaman in the abdomen, causing it to ooze blue spit from its mouth, before shoving it back and spearing it through the heart.

Over in another part of the room, Maria had her target shaman backed into a corner. She swung her arms in wide, circular motions, and one by one, she gained white orbs around her body. She paused when the orbs reached their peak in brightness, and somehow channeled them into her katars. Her weapons took on a creamy white glow, before she jabbed them into the shaman's body, causing an explosion of white light.

Similarly, Alminus finished up effectively dealing with his assigned shaman. He decapitated the creature with a mighty roar.

"This is the life!" he yelled with mirth.

Vendra, Piricus and his skeleton had ten fallen still rushing them over the corpses of their comrades. Piricus looked be considering summoning another golem, but Vendra quickly put her arm out in front of his chest to stop him. She pulled back her sleeves and walked towards the rushing demons, turning her hands over.

"What are you doing?" Maria cried out to her in alarm, as Vendra was encircled by the fallen, whom all raised their scimitars to strike.

Vendra didn't seem too concerned, as she shouted a spell in some strange tongue. An icy blue ring erupted outwards from her around her middle, becoming larger in diameter the farther it traveled. Some of the fallen might have detected her magic, and tried to run away, but it was to no avail. They froze into crystalline statues momentarily before shattering whenever a part of the ring touched them. Five small healing potions had been randomly dropped by the fallen killed by Vendra's spell. Maria muttered something about it being called a Frost Nova.

"Can we each have one?" Alminus asked, eyeing the healing potions.

"Fine by me. I just hope we won't need them," Vendra answered, picking up one of the potions.

"Where are these even coming from?" I asked curiously.

"They're probably provisions stolen from the rogue camp or off of rogue scouts," Maria answered simply.

I picked up the vial closest to me, and while bent down, I heard what sounded like the buzzing of flies close by. Strange, seeing as we were underground.

"I'll be right back," I said to everyone in general, before cautiously walking that direction. In the dim firelight I could make out a mass of what were definitely flies, swarming over some large mass on the cave floor. The insects scattered as I drew closer.

"Oh my Goddess," I gasped in alarm without meaning to. It was more out of surprise than anything.

The mass on the floor was a dead rogue. The sight before me was grim and probably one of the worst I had seen in a long time. Her body was decaying; bones were showing through gross clumps of tissue covered in blood. In fact, most of what was left of her and her armor looked like it had been drenched in blood. There were little slash marks in her bones, little chips missing. It was undeniable that she had met a grisly end.

The others must have heard my shocked exclamation. Maria and Alminus quickly hurried over, while Piricus walked over calmly, and Vendra remained where she stood. Alminus was the first to reach my side.

"What is it Chyemme? Are you alrigh`?" he asked.

I didn't have to say anything. He looked down and saw the scene for himself.

"Whoa nelly! It looks li` she wasn' havin` such a good day," he said gruffly, but not without an undertone of respect in his voice.

"A dead rogue . . . this one was most likely one of the warriors Kaysha sent down here before us. Be on your guard, we don't know what it was that killed her," Maria said with a note of concern.

"Is this is what all the fuss is over? A dead rogue? There's probably a lot more of them down here, seeing as that Rogue Commander doesn't have the common sense of a zombie army combined," Piricus said, clearly unimpressed.

"Yeah, well some of us aren't as fond of death as you are, and leave her body be, do you understand me? She deserves to rest in peace!" Maria growled, glaring directly up at Piricus as if she expected him to act.

He just scoffed. " I don't take orders. Especially from you. I'll do as I damn well please. But consider this, she got herself killed down here. She was weak. And you know what happens to the weak," he said darkly, evoking a pained and angry glance from Maria. " But, not to worry, _assassin_, her corpse is of little use to me in her current state. So I can't do much anyway," he added, accenting the word assassin very strongly.

I had no idea what Piricus was driving at, but evidently Maria understood it perfectly well.

"It's not like that," she said powerfully.

Isn't it though?" Piricus replied sarcastically. For a moment they shared some sort of dark glance between them, and I thought another argument was coming up.

Luckily, Vendra intervened by calling, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's a dead rogue. We're coming back over now, let's keep moving," Maria called back, and went to join her, although not without a scowl at Piricus.

Vendra looked a little green when her face was visible again, and she looked grateful to be moving on. I could understand why. Seeing a good person fall to the darkness was troubling in my opinion, and in the case of the Rogues, tragic. I kept my eyes downcast as I thought to myself. I had unknowingly taken the lead of the group.

If not for my innersight, I would have been dead. Something that resembled a huge, furry fist swung at me. I had just enough time to realize the creature was there and turn aside, but not enough time to react fully. I had walked straight into whatever it was.

I suddenly felt a tremendous, fiery pain in my side, and I heard a loud cracking sound. From what it felt like, several of my ribs had just been broken with one blow. I soared backwards and my back hit a wall near Vendra. I felt warmth rushing out of my body through my side, and as the world started to go black, I was sinking into a pool of my own blood. I heard Maria scream something illegible, and Alminus yell from somewhere far away. I vaguely felt something lift my head, and something bitter was poured down my throat.

I instantly began to feel warmer, as my ribs reset themselves, and blood was somehow restored to my body. Slowly, the hazy world came back into focus. Vendra's concerned face peered down at me.

"Are you alright? Can you hear me?" she asked, as I pulled away from her and sat up. From there, I shakily found my feet.

"I hear you. Yes, I think I'm alright. What happened?" I asked uncertainly, as she steadied me.

"A Gargantuan beast just came out of nowhere. I mean, nobody saw it until it hit you. It looked like it got you pretty good. You were bleeding pretty badly, and you were blacking out. I gave you a few healing potions," Vendra relayed.

"What about the creature?" I asked suddenly, "Where is it?"

"Alminus hacked it to bits," Vendra answered, and gestured towards the barbarian as he kicked the corpse savagely a final time.

When he finished he walked over to me. "Are ya alrigh'?" he asked in true concern.

I looked down to my side, checking myself over. I had a large bruise where the mortal injury should have been, but other than that I was fine. "I think so," I said uncertainly.

"Thanks for that, Alminus," I said with a grateful smile as I eyed the mutilated corpse of the creature that had attacked me. On this note, I turned to Vendra. "Thank you Vendra, I owe you my life," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

She squirmed a bit and pulled back from this awkward moment. "You're welcome; just don't make it a habit."

"Are you feelin' up to continuin`?" Alminus asked gently.

"She should be. As amazon she ought to be tougher than that," Piricus remarked.

I frowned as he led the way ahead. He was right. I should have been paying better attention. I would never let it happen again. Vendra noticed my frown and smiled slightly.

"I'd have liked to see him take that punch. Too bad he wasn't in front," she said regretfully, trying to ease my mood.

We entered the next hallway and found a cluster of zombies. I heard Vendra groan.

"Duck," I told her, and threw a javelin overhead that impaled a zombie.

Piricus had grabbed his wand and muttered a spell that sent three twisting, blue bolts of unearthly magic eating through the remaining two zombies.

Continuing on in what felt like an endless cave, we encountered a huge horde of demons in the next room. In a quick glance, I counted fifteen fallen, five shamans, three gargantuan beasts, and five zombies. In the dim firelight, I could also make out the bodies of several more rogues on the floor. This must have been where a major fight took place; one the rogues lost.

Maria had made the same observation and frowned deeply. "I'll take care of the shamans," she announced and ran ahead, flipping over a group of fallen on her way.

"Ill kill the fallen," Vendra volunteered.

"I'll deal with tha zombies," Alminus affirmed.

That left me and Piricus to take care of the gargantuan beasts, which we now charging us. He looked to me, as I hurled a javelin into the breast of the first. It gave an elephant-like bray, pulled the javelin out, and tossed it aside. I aimed a little higher as it quickly encroached on my personal space, and this time I hit it in the head. This time the demon died.

As the two others advanced, Piricus commanded his skeleton to attack. It boldly, or perhaps recklessly, ran up to the two demons and began slashing wildly at both. It managed to shave off a great deal of fur before a powerful punch from one of them shattered it back into the separate bones it originally was. I cringed, remembering how that felt. Piricus, on the other hand, cursed.

"Damn it!" he swore loudly.

I reached for a javelin from my stack, and found there were none. I had used them all.

"Oh damn is right! I'm out of javelins," I said in frustration and quickly grabbed my other weapon, my short spear.

Piricus grabbed his dagger. "Well, amazon, it looks like we're reduced to melee combat."

"Can't you summon any more skeletons, or something?" I asked quickly.

"And waste more mana? You saw what just happened to my last one. These creatures are superior in strength."

"You have that mana potion," I reminded him.

"True, but I'm saving that for a real need," he answered simply.

The demons were dangerously close to us now. I would have called being forced to fight them in hand to hand was a real need. But then again, I had faced worse before.

"In that case, I guess we just have to live that long," I answered him. I did a one-handed cartwheel to the side of the creature charging me, then, using my spear, I vaulted behind it. From behind, I swiftly employed a skill I had learned at home; I rapidly plunged my spear in and out of the creature's body in several different places inside of split seconds, managing to use my innersight just enough to hit major organs, sometimes going through multiple ones at the same time. It fell dead in twice the time.

I looked left to see Piricus finish his attacker by slashing its exposed throat and then stabbing it through the heart. Meanwhile, Vendra had cast four frost novas, completely obliterating the small army of fallen. Maria was still battling with a remaining shaman, but she finished it off with some kind of spinning slash. Alminus, as I expected, had proved too much for the zombies by a long shot, and he was already making his way towards us in the center of the cavern. When we had all gathered, it was clear that we were tired. To be of any further use to anyone, we needed to rest for the moment. This seemed to be a general agreement among the group, and each of us took a moment to regain our energy.

I leaned up against a nearby wall, looking into the ominous darkness ahead. It was then, my innersight acted again. This time I heard someone yelling and what sounded like zombies grunting. The picture of a large, teal zombie, two times larger than the rest, revealed itself to my mind's eye.

"Look. More o' 'em star-things. Wha' is it Chyemme?" I heard Alminus ask me. His voice seemed to snap me out of my trance-like state.

"I don't know for sure, but I think I'm picking up on something. I think it might CorpseFire," I said plainly.

"Oh joy," said Vendra, breaking the silence that had ensued.

Piricus just shrugged and starting walking forward, in the direction of my inner sight.

"Well, we came to fight not sit. Let's go already or the damn thing will probably come to us. At least we'll have the element of surprise," he said emotionlessly.

Sure enough, as we rounded the next curve, we were face to face with a large, teal-colored zombie, wandering aimlessly about.

"Is that CorpseFire?" Alminus asked, clearly unafraid.

Even I had to admit, the thing did look slightly docile with the sluggish, heavy way it moved.

Piricus raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? It doesn't look tough at all," he scoffed.

He had spoken too soon. Before we could really register what happened, the creature had cast and flung an ice spire with amazing speed. Piricus, who hadn't been expecting it at all, was hit straight in his shoulder. I expected him to give some sign of pain, seeing as the spire had embedded itself deeply in his shoulder. But he didn't. The only sign he gave of being hit was dropping to one knee from the force of the blow. I was at his side before I realized it.

"Piricus, are you-"

He reached over and grabbed the ice spire, pulling it from his shoulder with a short intake breath.

"I'm fine. That's more like it. I was about to say that is the most pathetic zombie I've ever seen," he said with a laugh, although there was a slight gasping for breath in his speech. He stood up gracefully, although blood continued to drip off his shoulder. He would show no weakness, even now. I thought it was especially since he was in Maria's presence.

At that exact moment, Maria leapt nimbly in front of me and deflected an oncoming ice bolt with her right katar. The weapon immediately became covered in frost, and cracked.

"Blast him Vendra!" Maria yelled.

Vendra whirled her hand around, creating a red aura, then blasted a jet of flame towards CorpseFire from her fingertips. The zombie gave an odd sort of grunt before the magic bounced off of it.

"It's fire resistant!" Vendra hissed in surprise.

"Well that much is obvious," Piricus growled, and I noticed him reach ever so slightly towards his heavily bleeding shoulder. At this time, the zombie had broken a large stalagmite clean off the floor and hurled it at us, sending our party dodging in all directions. I was closest, and shouted out a loud war-cry as I performed three front handsprings toward the creature and jabbed my short spear deeply into its body when I was close enough.

"What`r we waitn` for?" Alminus roared from behind me and I heard the sound of him charging forward. Corpsefire seemed unfazed by my attack, and incredibly, it cast another ice spell while I was still on the offensive. This spell wasn't aimed for me, but for Alminus, who shattered the ice spire into shards with a swing of his axe. Some of the shards sliced across his arm, but he seemed unfazed.

Maria took this opportunity to jump at Corpsefire, with her arm poised to slash. With the other arm it was not using against me, it swung at her. She twisted her body mid-air to adjust just in time. The zombie's ice-enchanted fist smashed into one of her katars and broke it in half. She managed to refold her attack and land gracefully on the cavern floor.

"Damn it! No way Charsi can fix this," she cursed and tossed it aside.

Vendra, whom had also attacked, didn't have much luck either. She struck out at the creature with her staff, which began to freeze upon impact. Like Maria's katar had, the staff cracked as well.

It was at this time, I felt a cold sensation wash over my own hand, before I realized that my weapon was freezing too. I hastily pulled it away, but to my dismay, my jabbing attacks had only done half the damage I had wished for. I fell back with the others, all of us readying our weapons for another strike. A thought occurred to me as I looked around at the others. It was so simple, I didn't know why I hadn't seen it before. Perhaps it had been the adrenaline of battle. . . . I noticed that when we attacked, although it had been in succession, it had been individually. If we attacked all together, we might have better luck.

"We need to attack together," I said suddenly, making the others turn to me. "On different sides. Maria, Alminus and myself will take different sides, and Vendra, you and Piricus can stand back and cast on the remaining side. There is no way that it will be able to deflect all our attacks."

Maria looked at me, then looked around. There seemed to be no objections. "Sounds good," she affirmed, and then the three of us ran at Corpsefire, diverging to different sides at the last minute.

I ducked under an icy punch and plunged my spear deep into the creature's left side. Maria had darted to the right, and impaled the creature under the ribs with her remaining katar, while Alminus embedded his axe into its backside. Vendra's hand sparkled with electricity before she shot a bolt of lightning, and Piricus released what looked like white-blue barbs of energy from his own hands.

The force of our combined powers were enough to drop the creature almost effortlessly, and within moments it lie dead at our feet. A bright ray of sunshine broke through a crack in the cave ceiling and shone down upon us. A feeling of warmth washed over me, and the feeling of darkness was no longer immediately present.

"The den is cleansed," breathed Maria.

"Yes. Perhaps now the sisters will trust us," I added softly. We all turned our attention to the body of the fallen monster. Corpsefire had dropped an unusual object from its body; it was a very strange amulet that looked like a dream catcher within the mouth of some type of animal. An extremely odd occurrence, for none of us understood why a corpse would have such a thing. Maria scanned it over quickly, seeming to debate something with herself, and then she pocketed the amulet. After doing this, we retraced our steps back to the cave entrance.

The others were waiting for us there. They all looked relatively unharmed, save some scratches and bruises. Ryelass had a black eye, which was saying something if I could see it in the dim light, Scorpious had a bloody scratch on the side of his neck and Cloudyous had a slight limp. Sovellis looked fine from what I could tell. As they approached us, Scorpious looked us over, assessing our conditions as well. He eyed Piricus's shoulder, probably determining it to be the most serious of our injuries.

"What happened?" he asked pointedly, although there was actually an undertone of genuine concern in his voice.

Piricus just scowled at him. "Corpsefire," he said simply, which was more than I thought he was going to say.

Scorpious didn't mock him, and not surprisingly, offered to help him as well. "I can try to heal your shoulder if you'd like."

As expected, Piricus practically spat at the offer, even though I could tell that he was in some manner of discomfort.

"I don't need your help, Paladin," he growled and walked up the stairway, clutching his dripping shoulder.

Scorpious just shook his head. "So be it. I can't force him to take my assistance, no matter how much he may need it. I only hope he'll let Lady Akara take a look at that wound, for his own good."

Vendra upturned her nose at Piricus' retreating outline and then walked over to Sovellis. She gingerly brushed her fingertips across his cheek and smirked."What happened to you?"

Sovellis smiled apologetically. "Bush demon. Is very good thing I have hard skull," he joked.

Vendra laughed. "That's for sure."

After a brief report on our happenings from Maria, Scorpious lead us up the staircase into the Blood Moor. In the fading daylight, Sovellis' wounded cheek became more noticeable. It was severely bruised and looked like he must have taken a right hook from an enraged grizzly bear.

I saw Scorpious pull a small scroll tied with a blue ribbon from his belt, before calling out to Piricus, who had gotten a sufficient head start on us.

"Piricus, wait!" He opened the scroll and then tossed it onto the ground, saying some strange phrase in a language I've never heard. A large, shimmering blue portal suddenly appeared before us. "Just step through to return to the encampment," Scorpious informed. As an example, he stepped through first one foot after another and disappeared entirely into it.

I reached out curiously to touch it. Although it did not look it, the portal felt surprisingly solid and cold to the touch. Almost like an actual door. I could see a reflection of the rogue encampment on the other side as I looked in. It was a strange thing; I had never seen anything like this before on the Amazon isles. However, if Scorpious had done it and come to no harm, neither would I. I trusted him, and besides, in the months since I had left my home, I had encountered far too many strange magics for this to be really something that unusual.

I felt a cold sensation as I stepped through. It was an odd realization to me that I was actually walking through space and time. Almost in the blink of an eye, I found myself safe within the walls of the Rogue camp. Once everyone was through, Scorpious said another phrase and dismissed the portal.


	5. Chapter 5

Rewards

Chyemme

Akara and Kashya were the first to greet us upon our return. "It is good to see you, my young warriors. Is all well?" she asked with a voice full of expectation.

"Worry no more, honorable Lady Akara. The den is cleansed this day," Scorpious announced, as he respectfully bowed to her.

The old Rogue's face brightened with a large smile. "Wonderful! You have done very well, all of you. Thank you for what you have done, it is greatly appreciated. Kashya, if you please," she said simply.

Kashya silently and emotionlessly removed a small leather pouch from her belt and wordlessly handed it to Akara. From the bag, Lady Akara pulled nine rings, each with a different gemstone set into the center of the band. Among the gems were a sapphire, an emerald, a diamond, a yellow topaz, an amethyst, an orange opal, an onyx, and a pink agate; all of them were framed in platinum. I noticed however, that she left one in the bag.

"Each ring has a special enchantment upon it, as well as their own unique properties that are attributed to the stones. I couldn't remember them all off the top of my head, so I wrote a list. Take a look and choose one," Akara instructed. "In addition, you may all receive training from me in the skill of your choice. Don't worry. I am old and thus have seen many disciplines that may be of use to you, though you are not rogues. It is my way of showing my gratitude and that of my sisters as well." Akara then handed the list to me, being as I was the closest to her. It read:

_Ruby- fire enchanted_

_Sapphire- ice enchanted_

_Emerald-Poison enchanted_

_Topaz- lightning enchanted_

_Diamond- blessed_

_Amethyst- enhances strength_

_Opal- enhances vitality_

_Agate- enhances speed_

_Onyx- enhances mana_

I looked among the list and glanced over the beautiful gemstone rings in the bag. No doubt these were some of the last remnants of the once abundant wealth of the Order of the Sightless Eye. As such, we must have done Lady Akara an enormous favor for her to be giving them to us. My final choice was to take the sapphire ring. I took the ring and handed the bag to Piricus, who took the emerald without delay. Maria took the agate, Vendra grabbed the ruby ring, and Scorpious chose the diamond. Sovellis took the topaz, Cloudyous took the onyx, Alminus wanted the Amethyst, and Ryelass claimed the opal.

I placed the sapphire-platinum ring on my finger. I felt a cold tingle flow through my body momentarily before it abated. My attacks would now have the power of ice. I was sincerely pleased, and couldn't wait to seek out Akara for training. I had heard many things from my people about the skills of the Rogues. Looking around, my comrades seemed to share my disposition.

Alminus stepped forwards toward Akara. "I've already decided wha' I'd li' ya ter show me. I'd like fur ya ter teach me better axe mastery, if ya know how."

Akara nodded to him. "Very well. If you'll wait just a moment Lord Alminus, I'll attend to your request. Is there anything else that I or one of my sisters can be of service with before I take my leave?" she answered, looking around at us.

Maria nodded. Yes, a scroll of identification if you have one," she replied, handing the old woman a handful of gold coins. In return, Akara handed her a scroll tied with red ribbon.

"What are you doing?" I asked her curiously as she removed the red tie from the scroll and began to unfurl it. I'd never seen anything like this before.

"This talisman we found has some sort of magical properties, but I don't have any clue what they are. These scrolls were invented by Horadrim mages long ago and have the power to reveal certain enchantments upon the objects they touch. I'm doing this because provisions of all kinds, especially of the magically variety, are in short supply here, so we don't know when we'll come across them again. Best to buy them when you can. They're pretty simple to work with," she explained, "just read them, then place your item on top of them. When you pick them up, they'll reveal what that item is," she continued. "Revlena scrollus," she muttered and placed the strange necklace we had acquired earlier upon the scroll.

There was a clicking noise, then she removed the necklace. I briefly saw the paper, and it read:

_Rainbow Amulet_

_Increases all elemental resistances_

The necklace suddenly gave off a rainbow-colored glow, although the piece itself remained pure gold as Maria placed it around her neck, apparently having decided it was safe.

"Good for you, assassin," Piricus said nastily, not wishing Maria well obviously in any sense of the word 'good'. "Finally, someone gets an armor upgrade in this forsaken place," Piricus added snidely. I wished he hadn't said that in front of Lady Akara, that comment caused a look of despair to cross her face momentarily. Though we had lessened the load for them today, the Rogue sisterhood was by no means on the way to recovery.

I saw Akara's ears suddenly twitch. I understood in an instant, I heard it too. It was the sound of footsteps, human footsteps. They were frequent and hard. That meant whoever was taking them was running, and running fast. My innersight peaked and revealed two rogues, one badly injured, and one darting around desperately firing shots trying to protect them both from a horrid-looking band of monsters.

I was running to the gate before I realized it. In the dim starlight, I could vaguely make out the figures as they approached. The demons following them were in very close proximity, it would be almost impossible to target one of them specifically without hitting the rogues. I was glad to see that none of the rogue guards were firing. In the confusion and the darkness, they could have shot their sisters.

Kashya was right behind me, and she wasted no time in taking action when she saw how close the demons and her warriors were getting to the camp. "SHOOT!" she yelled at the sentinels at the gate.

They turned to her in confusion, and I could see their faces. Both were very young and obviously just recruit level. They were also scared. Though they were rogues, they hadn't had time to master archery yet.

"But m'am, we might . . ." one of them said timidly, and obviously very unsure.

"We have no choice, we can't risk those monsters getting close enough to enter the camp! Fire!" She repeated with fury building.

"No, wait!" I yelled and snatched a bow from the hands of one of the stunned sentries. I raised the weapon up to eye level and pulled back the draw string, the position of it all being like second nature to me. The young rogues may not have been skilled enough to have hit the creatures in such conditions, but I was. I could see the red gleam in the eyes of one of the demons as I released the string and arrow. The lethal projectile flew through the darkness silently and landed into my target with perfect precision. Mindlessly and effortlessly, I reached across the rogue and pulled another arrow from her quiver. I prepared to fire again, this time I concentrated on the warm feeling of fire in my mind. I could feel my body heat flow out softly through my hand and then onto my arrow. As I fired it, the arrow burst into flame and flew forward, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. It hit and instantly killed a demon that had been reaching out to grab one of the rogues. By this time, Sovellis had appeared behind me.

He glanced over the scene and his large chocolate eyes widened in surprise. "Not good. Very bad!" he said simply in utter seriousness. He pulled back his sleeves and dispatched a strange yellow ring from his hands that immediately encircled the remaining horde. He simply snapped his fingers and a charge of electricity rippled out within the ring, shocking the demons to death, but leaving the rogues completely unharmed.

"What type of magic is that?" I asked in surprise.

"Lightning magic. It is called static field. Shocking, yes?" he joked, trying to make light of the situation and ease the tension.

I took the opportunity and laughed. The joke was funny to me and it greatly helped relieve the immediate tension. By now, a large gathering of people within the encampment had heard the commotion and left their posts to come see what was happening. Several rogues were now running out into the field to help their sisters.

Kashya growled as she turned to me. "Just where do you come off commanding my warriors, outlander?"

I was not afraid of her, and matched her glare. "Since I think your orders could have gotten them killed. I mean no disrespect, but your sentries are young and inexperienced, and would have fired out of fear. They could and most likely would have missed the demons and possibly killed your allies. I have experience as an archer, it was better that I should do it," I reasoned. This logic only made Kashya angrier.

She probably felt that I was a threat to her command or to her sisters at the same time. "The arrogance! How dare you outlander! The Sisters of the Sightless Eye are renowned archers! All of us, even those new to the practice! This is our land and these are our enemies! We know them and their ways better than any Amazon upstart! We don't need you to fight for us!" she hissed vehemently.

"Don't talk that way to Lady Chyemme. She only trying to help," Sovellis interjected from beside me on my behalf. "I am outlander too. And I think you use all help you get. The demons are many and you are few. You are like fish trying to swim up waterfall. No matter how hard you push, you always fall down and water still comes down as always. What good come of this for fish?" he reasoned.

Like before, Kashya took this advice as an insult, and I'm sure she would have continued arguing against us, but the two rogues from the field had reached our side escorted by a group of their sisters.

Kashya stormed past us, over to the healthy one. "Eryn, what the hell happened?"

"Lyshira just came running out of nowhere, with the corrupted ones chasing her. She was already badly injured when she reached me. She kept saying something about the others. I don't know what she meant, but she was the only one there," the blonde-haired rogue called Eryn answered, apparently still in shock over what had just happened.

"Corrupted ones? Those are corrupted rogues? Those beasts? No, surely not," Sovellis exclaimed in shock as he looked back out onto the field where the bodies lie.

"Unfortunately yes. She what Andariel's evil has done to us?" Eryn said, choking back tears.

"It's horrible," I said quietly. Inwardly I was appalled. What kind of evil could do that to a person? Turn them against those they once loved and called friends?

"And if you're not careful, you may fall victim to it as well, seeing as how you seem to be so rogue-like," Kashya growled.

"Thanks for the warning," I said somewhat coldly in reply, and walked away, not wishing anymore strife for the moment. My mind was already troubled enough, especially with the newly acquired knowledge that those demons I just killed had once been rogues. Their look was still fresh in my mind. Their skin, from what I had seen, was a putrid bluish-grey and their bodies had unnatural spikes growing out of elbows, knees and limbs. They wore a strange metallic material that looked somewhat like moss as armor. It barely covered their deformed bodies. They had almost no human features about their faces anymore either, save for the original shape. Their eyes were red and slanted, their noses had become jagged, and their teeth were now elongated and razor sharp. They all had straight, sharp horns and all of them also had black hair. Any individuality they may have once possessed seemed to be gone. I guessed that only those that knew them well before they turned would be able to tell them apart, and even then there would be difficulty.

I hastily tried to put this image out of my mind; I would probably dwell on it again sometime in the future anyway. I then made my way to the central fire pit, which was unusually alive with activity. News of our victory seemed to have spread through the camp like wildfire, and everywhere the rogues were speaking of it. All this excitement was due to the fact that this was the first true victory they had had in a long time. Many of them waved to me or acknowledged me in some other form as I walked by, taking a seat around the fire itself. A large bull was roasting over it; I assumed it was our evening meal. The fire was warm, and the smell was comforting, so I decided to say for a while, relax a little, and listen to the stories of the rogues as they talked.

It was not long before I noticed that the others were here as well. We all looked at least partially happy, even Piricus, whom as usual, was off in a shadowy corner by himself, observing the happenings. It seems that Akara had healed his shoulder and it was now wrapped in bandaging cloth. Among the sea of faces, I saw Scorpious across the fire from me sitting on a log that overlooked the entire fireplace area. I saw him raise a wine glass up in one hand and then I noticed that everyone in the circle had a glass of ale situated at their feet. In my preoccupation I had overlooked it. As was custom, I followed suit. I reached down and picked mine up to join in the toast.

"TO VICTORY!" I heard one of the rogues, evidentially one in charge, yell over the noise.

Everyone, save Piricus raised their glasses in salute, before the celebration continued. He merely shook his head and averted his eyes, and when moments later Alminus had begun to sing some foreign drinking song entitled "My Lady Rose", he sighed heavily in annoyance and took his leave.

Minutes later, Alminus was on his tenth ale and was still going. I looked on in interest. Evidentially Alminus was used to a party. On Skovas we threw feasts and festivals, but usually drinking was kept in check. I silently pondered many explanations I had to come up with as to why he wasn't getting drunk in the slightest, as he threw aside his glass and called for another. I must admit though, it was good to see everyone this high in spirit. That high spirit died instantly when Kashya approached the area. The grave look on her face had silenced everyone immediately. With all eyes on her, she took a deep breath and then forcibly spoke, aiming her speech at me and my companions.

"My rogue scouts have just reported an abomination in the monastery graveyard! Apparently Andariel is not content to take only our living. Blood Raven, one of our finest captains in the battle against Diablo at Tristram, was also one of the first to be corrupted by Andariel. Now you'll find her in the monastery graveyard, raising our dead as zombies. We cannot abide this defilement! If you are truly our allies, you will help us destroy her. Of all the scouts I sent, only one survived. And that is Lyshira. She says the need is urgent, and that there isn't much time. If you want to help us strangers, destroy Blood Raven, and put our dead back to the peaceful rest they have been so-long denied," she announced. Something seemed to pain Kashya, for she didn't say anymore, but turned away, shaking her head and left.

"Well, we're gonna have ta go stop 'er then. It seems we've got ourselves another quest," Alminus said aloud more to us than anyone else. I was still surprised that he could form coherent sentences after all that ale, and amazed that he seemed unfazed at all. What a constitution! And still, he thrust his mug up into the air and called for another round.

Maria had taken a seat beside me after the toast and at the moment, she was flexing her remaining katar in the firelight, looking it over with a frown. She made to stand.

"Where are you going?" I asked curiously.

She turned to me. "I'm going to see Charsi. My katar is looking pitiful."

"Who's Charsi?" I asked.

"She's the resident blacksmith," she answered simply.

I remembered that I was out of javelins. With any luck this blacksmith might have some to spare. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, just plain would do for now. I also knew not to expect too much, for my Amazon weapons were exotic here and might be beyond the skill of the rogues to create or repair.

"May I join you?" I asked politely, for I did not know where I could find her. It would be a useful thing to know in the future, I decided.

Maria nodded. "Of course."

Maria and I rose from the campfire and left towards the back part of the encampment. It wasn't long before we came upon a half-tent stall lined with weapons and armor. Behind the display, I could see half of what looked like a large anvil. Looking around, I was pleased to notice that there was a rack of spear-class weapons off to one side. At the base, leaned up against the rack, were a pile of silver javelins that caught my eye. I walked over, and carefully picked one up. It was surprisingly light, and the moment I touched it, a strong zeal flowed through my arm. Far better than I had hoped to find, these javelins were expertly crafted and would fly far and fast.

"Do you like them?" a voice with a country accent asked me.

I hadn't been expecting it, and I had tensed at the sound of the voice. I turned around, javelin still in hand. A large blonde woman in a soot-stained apron was standing there. She noticed my momentary unease.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you. From what I hear you've had a pretty excitable day. Feel free to look around. By the way, I'm Charsi," she said, extending a hand and a friendly smile.

I gave her a firm handshake in greeting with my free hand. "A pleasure to meet you, I'm Chyemme," I replied, returning the smile. "Your silver javelins are very well made. I'm impressed. I didn't really expect to find weapons common to my people here," I said, twirling the javelin around in my hand, testing out its motion. It was almost flawless.

"I'm glad you think so. I made them myself, back at the monastery, before, well . . . You know what happened. Anyway those were some of the few weapons that I managed to carry here. Your people, huh? So it's true then, I heard that there was an Amazon among us. Your people's skills in archery rival our own, from what I hear, and that's saying something. However us Rogues aren't too instructed with spears and javelins. Oh don't worry though," she added upon seeing the curious look on my face, "I have plenty of experience fixing foreign weapons. I should be able to take care of anything you bring me," she said confidently.

I nodded appreciatively. I believed her. If she could make javelins and spears this well, I had no doubt that she could repair them equally well.

"Ah Charsi, there you are," exclaimed Maria as she walked around the corner.

Charsi apparently knew Maria already and greeted her with the same friendly smile. "Hello Maria. Good to see you. How can I help you?"

Maria held out her one katar, then gave it to Charsi to examine. "That zombie you call Corpsefire had some type of freezing power. I deflected an ice bolt with it and it cracked. My other one broke in half. I don 't suppose you have another available?" she explained.

Maria must have been in a similar situation to mine. If my weapons were exotic, hers must have been completely foreign. I had never seen katars before I met her, and I knew that they weren't common weapons. True to her claim, Charsi really did seem to be able to fix just about any weapon. She nodded to Maria.

"As a matter of fact I do. I managed to trade for one with Gheed, don't ask me where he got it from. He has all sorts of things I've never seen before. Anyway, I looked it over and managed to upgrade it a little. It should work fine. It's on that rack over there, if you want to look at it. As for this, I'll have it fixed in no time," she assured.

"Thanks," Maria said gratefully and walked over to a rack of swords nearby. She found the one katar among them and looked it over carefully. Meanwhile, I saw Charsi move over to a coal-pit fire and smelt some iron ore into an unshaped mold. Then she removed it, walked over the front half of the anvil and poured the red hot liquid into the crack of the katar. Before too long, the metal cooled and hardened, and Charsi hammered it smooth. When she handed it back to Maria, it looked almost brand new.

Maria looked it over and nodded her approval. "Excellent. I've decided to take the other katar as well. It should work just fine until I can get back to my order," she replied, and handed Charsi a handful of coins.

I decided to purchase the javelins and after doing so, left the area with Maria. They had cost a fair amount, but they were well worth it. After all, they were made of pure silver and had been seemingly enhanced somehow. But they were worth their weight in gold to me, for on the battlefield, there was no substitute for a good javelin.

On the way back to the tent, I recognized the wounded Rogue from earlier, Lyshira, making her way towards us. Akara's healing skills had done wonders, and she appeared perfectly fine. "Are you alright?" I asked her as she halted in front of us.

"Thanks to you," she said before handing me a piece of parchment with the Amazon seal on it. "Thank you," she added with a grateful smile before she walked away.

"What's that?" Maria asked curiously from beside me.

"Looks like, a letter from my homeland," I answered with disbelief. I hadn't exactly been in the best of standings with some of them, especially my mother, when I left.

Maria sighed. "Ah. Well it's most likely a private matter and I won't ask. I'll take my leave then. Good night," she said politely, and dismissed herself. I wandered back towards the tent us girls were sharing, reading the letter as I went. It read:

_Dearest Chyemme,_

_My heart knew good and well that this letter would eventually find you, as well as the fact that you so longed for battle. A chance to prove yourself. I could see it in you, day by day, as you grew more and more discontented with the passive life of a priestess. You always wanted to be more, to do more. And now your chance has come. Although I disagree with you on the methods to which the powers of the goddesses and gods should be used, our aim is a common one. To protect and serve those most in need. Succeed in what you set out to do, and you may yet convince me of your point, daughter. _

_However, as you well know, I am not merely writing as a means to try and settle our personal disagreement. At this point, that is irrelevant to the overall objectives of our people, though I personally feel remorseful over some of the things that transpired between us the night of your departure. I am writing to tell you, what you in your desperation for action did not hear. I feel it is key to inform you that while it is true that the Queen and her high council did indeed know of these happenings, our inaction was not due to the fact of lack of knowing what to do, but rather who to send. I must also admit, that I have not been entirely truthful with you. Ever since your childhood, you have shown amazing prowess and dedication to the warrior arts, and to the powers that come from the blessings of the immortals. This dedication did not go unnoticed, but rather was the topic of much discussion among myself and the council. The council argued when the happenings began, that you should be the one we sent to the Sightless Eye's aid. They argued that a new combination of priesthood and the warrior's ways, of which you are the prime example, would be most effective in the aid of others. You know my stance on this and I still hold firm, so I will not burden you with it now. I argued against this decision, but alas, I must submit to the will of the queen, as must we all._

_My innersight as well as intelligence from Lady Akara, has allowed me to know where it is you have found yourself now, and know that I will try to write as often as is necessary to inform you of the island happenings and the will of the council. Currently, it is the Queen's wish that you aid the Sisterhood in dispersing their troubles, as they have long been our distant allies of innersight, and the loss of the Monastery pass would be a great blow to trade and civilization. This is all I wish to say, save one last thing. It seems demons are becoming more and more common on the island as of late, something that hasn't happened here since the age of the Horadrim. We are not seriously concerned at the moment, giving the happenings elsewhere, but I did hear rumors that there was a necromancer on our island. I am greatly perturbed by this, seeing as rumor also states that you might have given assistance to one on your journey. The necromancers are a sly and devilish order, what they do is unnatural and disrupts the spiritual balance. They are also said to be merciless killers, especially to outsiders, and there are few tales of dealings with them that ended well, for anyone. They are not to be trusted, therefore I urge you, not to get involved with the likes of them. Other than this, I wish to send the greetings and well-wishes of the tribe, and let you know that you have our support in this calling._

_Love Always,_

Sheltia

I sighed. I was glad for the support of family and friends, and glad to know that mother had apologized and dismissed our fight in her way, but something still wasn't right to me. I was surprised to learn that my skills had been observed outside the temple, and pleased at the same time. I was honored to have been chosen by the high council for this task; only the highest of warriors were usually sent. However, I had the feeling that there was still more to this, still more that disturbed my mother that she wasn't telling me. I put it aside for now, and was about to walk away, when I heard someone shift in the shadows behind me.

"How precious. A letter from mommy, Amazon? Blames necromancers for the troubles on your island, does she? I must say, how sorely they underestimate us is insulting. If we, or in this case, I was the source of your troubles, you'd _know it without a shadow of a doubt_."

"Piricus. I should have known," I said simply, and at the same time, I inwardly kicked myself. I must have been mumbling the letter aloud as I read it. Either that, or he had incredible night vision. "My business is none of your concern," I said stiffly, turning to look at him. His face was half-hidden in the shadows, but I could still see the icy glare in his eyes. Even in the darkness I could see them, it was almost as if they were glowing in the dark.

"If that's the case, I wouldn't be mumbling it aloud for the whole camp to hear, amazon," he said simply.

"And if I were you, I wouldn't be sneaking around in the darkness, spying on people. It's a good way to get hurt," I growled in return.

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat, amazon? If so it wasn't very menacing. I am where I choose to be, and in this instance, were you choose to be as well. It is amazing the things fools will say when they think themselves alone. You can learn a lot by simply walking by. In this case, I have learned how ill-informed and so like-paladins the amazons are. You think you have things figured out, but in reality you don't have a clue. But I will say this, this mommy of yours has got one thing right. Necromancers aren't good people to get involved with. If you piss one of us off, you're likely to end up dead and have your corpse following us around like a newborn pup," he said darkly.

I scoffed. "Is that so? If that was the case, according to you, everyone in this camp should have died by now, but we're still standing," I retorted, "Or is the fact that we are still alive proof that you actually admit that you need us, as least for now, to survive this place?"

Piricus' emerald eyes flashed, though there was no light around. "A necromancer doesn't need anyone. Comradely behavior is something the paladins like to sit around and tell tales about, when in truth they can't even refrain from killing each other, much less anyone else," he said with an undertone of knowing.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was obviously alluding to something. I'm not sure I believed him anyway. I definitely couldn't see Scorpious raising swords against another human being, much less another paladin.

"Oh yes, we all have skeletons in the caravan, even _him_," Piricus said in distain, with reference to Scorpious, "and as for vengeance, there are other ways to strike back, Amazon. The water viper bides its time and then strikes when its enemies least expect it. I'm just biding my time," he said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

I shivered, the way he sounded, it was like he was actually serious . . . Like he had done it before . . . "You're lying," I said bluntly.

He laughed darkly. "Am I?"

"I wouldn't put it past you," I replied honestly.

"We'll see then, won't we? Anyway, I have better things to do than sit around trading ambiguities with you, Amazon. Sleep well, Trag Oul knows what nightmares you might have tonight," he said tauntingly, and swept past me on his way to goddess knows where.

"Idiot," I growled under my breath once he was safely out of earshot, "As if." I seriously didn't think that Piricus was a danger to anyone or anything at this point, save maybe Scorpious' sanity, and I really didn't think he was planning to kill anyone, but deep down I wasn't quite sure . . .I shivered. The uncertainty was troubling. In the time that I had been around Piricus I had learned to recognize his bluffs, but there were times when I honestly couldn't tell and that he sent shivers down my spine. This was one of those times.

I went back to my tent without delay and walked inside. My bed was the furthest to the left of the four. I placed my javelins next to my trunk at the foot of my bed, next to my short spear. I began removing my outer armor, and pulled off my boots before climbing into bed. As I lay down, I could still hear music coming from the campfire. Some of the rogues were playing flutes and string instruments, and Alminus' hardy voice was still bellowing into the night. I heard a whimper from the tent entrance, and saw Cloudyous' wolf, Belthem, as he entered the tent, more than likely to beg for table scraps.

I sighed and went to my trunk, pulling out a small scrap of bread from the evening meal that I had tucked away. I put it in my palm and offered it to the wolf, which approached me cautiously, with wild golden eyes. He sniffed my hand curiously, and then very gently took the morsel from me. After the wolf had finished, I returned to my bed, to find with surprise, that he jumped up there with me at my feet. I heard more footsteps, and then someone parted the tent-flap. It was Cloudyous.

"Belthem, there you are," he said, and gave a light whistle. On command, the wolf jumped down and returned to the druid's side.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, Chyemme. He doesn't usually act like this. He must really like you," Cloudyous apologized.

"It's fine," I assured him.

He nodded. "Rest well my lady," he said politely before leaving.

Belthem had paused at the door on his way out to look at me. He whined slightly, before Cloudyous whistled for him again and he left completely. I shifted in my makeshift bed, trying to get comfortable. It wasn't long before I realized how exhausted I was. I closed my eyes, falling asleep as I listened to the fading music, images of my family and my home shining in my dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

Blood Raven

Piricus

"AWHHHOOOO. . . ." Stupid wolf. I awoke groggily at the crack of dawn to the sound of the druid's mutt howling in my ear. I groaned.

"Wake, sleepy necromancer." The sorcerer, that moron.

"I'm up sorcerer! GO AWAY!" I thundered.

"Grouchy not good. . ."

I sprung out of bed, groping for his throat. I missed by a mile and the sorcerer grabbed my hand, pulling me up.

"Much better. Now we no wait on you," he said with a grin.

I growled.

I opened my trunk and grabbed my Loathe Edge Dagger and my new quilted armor. I threw on my armor and attached my dagger to my sash, then grabbed my wand. I grabbed my boots, laced them, and walked out into the cool morning breeze. The dew grazed my boots as I made my way to the campfire pit.

"Good morning Piricus," the paladin called to me in a bright voice.

"Indeed. The weather is ripe for death and destruction," I answered back, making the paladin frown slightly. Today we would venture into the crypts and cemetery, I would be in my element once again. I saw the amazon emerge from her tent accompanied by the assassin and the sorceress. I heard a loud thump as something solid and slightly heavy slapped my shoulder. I reached back and grabbed the barbarian's sledge-hammer of a hand.

"Don't you _ever_ touch me again unless you want me to rip your arm off," I hissed, when I felt my tension release.

"Er, gee Piricus, I'm sorry bout that. I was just tryin' to get yur attention," he said apologetically.

I looked him strait in the eye. "Well you've got it. Speak," I growled through gritted teeth.

"Well, I was jus gonna wish you luck today. . . ."

I reached for his chest buckle to pull him down to my eye-level. "You imbecile, you bother me for that?" I let go and stormed away, feeling thoroughly annoyed. I saw the amazon approach him out of the corner of my eye.

"Don't listen to him Alminus, Piricus is always an ass in the morning. I would wish you well, but you don't need it," she said to him kindly, and patted his shoulder before walking away.

The lumbering idiot blushed and smiled sheepishly.

I felt something like anger rise up from my insides and I knew I was gaining an unnatural yellowish-green aura. I just laughed and shook it off. I didn't know why I had gotten so worked up over one foolishly tender incident. It was not like I actually cared about the amazon and I could _not_ be _jealous_.

I walked over to the Blood Moore bridge. It was our gathering place. Before long, everyone going was on the bridge. The rogue, Flavie, was going to lead us to her stand between the Blood Moore and the Cold Plains. When the paladin arrived, and late I might add, we set off. We killed a few zombies and quill rats that we had missed yesterday along the way. The morning air was blowing the few strands of my hair that I had failed to tie as we approached a small clearing where trees met field. Beyond that point there were just open plains with a few scattered trees, unlike the Blood Moore, which was a soggy bog land with rivers and many trees.

"This is my post, and where we must part," the rogue called Flavie announced.

The paladin nodded his head towards her.

"Thank you my lady. The Lord watch over you."

"And all of you. These lands are treacherous. Most of the beasts are fierce enough, but they are but mundane menaces compared to our corrupted sisters . . .they are not to be trifled with."

I rolled my eyes. "Could you tell us something we don't already know, and that hasn't been coerced into memory by a thousand tongues speaking endless banter?"

The rogue scout looked slightly taken aback by this, but she shrugged it off quickly.

"Forgive me, I do not mean to offend you. I merely wished to make sure you are prepared. However, what you say is true, I'm sure many greater than myself have already passed along the message. . . . I can tell you, however, that you'll want to follow the path for three miles north, and then you'll reach a fork in the road. The right goes to the stony field, and the left goes to the cemetery. This unfortunately, is all the assistance I can give you."

I left unceremoniously and turned north. I heard the paladin apologize for me and then he and the others followed suit.

We had only just gotten out of the rogue's sight when we were suddenly charged by a horde of demonic-looking women. They wore and odd, moss-like armor, if you could call it that. It looked like some variety of metallic vine, and did little more than protect the creature's modesty, and it did a pitiful job at that. Getting a good look at them however, made me wish they had a better covering. Their pallid, blue-grey skin was rough and seemed slightly uneven in places, and oddly smooth in others. Many of them had horrid looking scars, and the places that weren't marred or disfigured, especially the joints, sprouted jagged, piercing spikes. It was enough to make me slightly ill, and that was saying something, especially for a necromancer. I saw the red eyes of one flash a shade of black as it charged me and swung an axe the size of my leg at my head. I swiftly ducked and thrust a side kick into its exposed stomach while reaching for my dagger. The creature refolded just in time for me to plunge my poison dagger into its heart. It died, hopefully for good this time, spasming.

"Duck jackass." It was the sorceress.

I assumed she was talking to me, because moments afterward, she sent a spire of ice flying into a corrupt rogue that was trying to flank my right side.

A short distance away I caught sight of the paladin as he sliced the head off another clean off its shoulders. The assassin was fighting close-by to him, and skewered another one through the abdomen. I heard the warrior give a sort of bellow, and I turned in time to see him bash the skull of one of the creatures in, using his buckler shield. All in all, we disposed of the creatures fairly quickly, and collected a small sum of gold from the corpses once they were all dead.

We paused momentarily to rest after our battle. The wind began to pick up and an icy chill blew in with it. It caused me to wrap my cloak more tightly around myself and sent shivers up my spine. Now I knew why the rogues called it the Cold Plains. After a brief rest, we took to the path again and eventually found the fork that was described to us. The paladin, who happened to be in the front of the company, looked out across the grassy wasteland and then turned his head to look in each direction.

"It is not my decision alone," he said, turning to face us.

"The quest always comes first," said the warrior quietly.

"That and the fact that this _Blood Raven_ poses the greatest threat to the sisterhood at the moment, seeing as she's really not that far away from the encampment," the assassin added.

In my opinion we all looked like synchronized puppets with the way everyone was bobbing their heads in agreement. Everyone but myself.

The damn paladin seemed to have noticed my lack of participation in our little group discussion. "And you, Piricus? What do you think?"

"I'll tell you what I think. I think you should keep your concerns about others to yourself. When I wish to share my opinion you'll know," I said curtly.

The sorceress groaned.

"Yeah, and it seems to happen that way whether we want it or not."

I heard the warrior snicker behind her, and saw the amazon give me a glare before she answered for me.

"Let's go to the cemetery. We were asked to do a task for the rogues and we should honor our word."

We began down the path and after a short distance we began to hear what sounded like grunting.

"What now?" I heard the barbarian ask.

The druid seemed to be keyed in on listening to the sound. He seemed to be considering something. "Sounds like. . .no, it couldn't be. They are peaceful. . ."

I scoffed,

"Druid, _nothing_ here is peaceful, or has your brain eroded too much for this to grab your notice?"

"Here they come, Gargantuan Beasts!" the barbarian exclaimed in surprise.

Sure enough, out of the blue we were charged by a herd of gargantuan beasts alongside a few more corrupted rogues. I saw the assassin give the amazon some sort of secretive nod before they both sprung forward into handsprings and did twirling kicks in unison. The two corrupted rogues that had been at the head of the charge stumbled backwards, as the assassin and the Amazon struck together. The amazon went to the right, and the assassin went to left, with the two of them crossing each other. Both women crouched down, following the motion of their strikes to the finish, as the heads of the corrupted rogues fell off simultaneously, rendering them dead.

I turned my attentions to the herd of creatures thundering for us. I set to work immediately, my mind reciting the spell. I turned my palm upwards and raised my hands, summoning the death energies in the ground around us. A cage of pure bone sprang from the earth, encasing the Gargantuan heard. Slowly, I brought my hands together, and in doing so, I caused the walls and bone spikes to close in. Thus, I skewered the demons within between the four walls, then released my concentration. The bone cage fell to the earth, and then disappeared.

In the middle of all the corpses was a small jade bow. I walked over and picked it up. I gave it an appraising look. I was no archer, but I did have some skill in ranged weaponry. But if nothing else, this bow would fetch a nice price back at the rogue encampment.

"We don't have time for this," I heard the paladin state, "I think I know something that will save us the trouble of fighting."

The paladin closed his eyes and muttered some prayer in Latin. His body suddenly became encased in some sort of sparkling ring. He knelt down and chanted some more, and moments afterwards I felt some sort of energy barrier surround me. I looked down, and I found myself sporting a similar ring around my waist as well. Although I was in no pain, and it appeared, no danger, I still felt very uncomfortable. I felt entrapped and at odds with whatever this magic of the paladin's was. It was strange, for I had had many types of magics cast on me and spells thrown against me, but I had never encountered any magic like this before. It made me want to struggle, rebel against it even.

"Paladin! What sorcery is this!?" I snarled, more out of surprise and discomfort than fear. He, as I noted with loathing, noted my discomfort almost instantly. That was a weakness, and I would never show him weakness.

He placed his hands up in a placating gesture. "Easy, Piricus. This is my Holy Shock Aura."

Oh, very convenient. Like I knew what the hell he was talking about. "Common tongue, if you please, alter-kisser," I retorted.

I saw the furry flash behind his eyes, but only for a moment.

"Have some respect for the Lord and his house!" he yelled. He calmed himself instantly, as if yelling at me had been some filthy word he uttered, and was ashamed of. He then proceeded to explain what a Shock Aura was.

"A Holy Shock Aura is a special paladin ability that can be shared with others. It's a ring of holy lightning, so to speak, that won't harm you, but will shock everything without the aura that gets to close to you. I can give it to anyone, and turn it off at anytime."

I gave an involuntary shiver. This energy was not something I was used to, and I noted with great displeasure that none of the other mages seemed to be feeling as I did, or even those without magic, for that matter. The paladin looked at me, about to say something, but the barbarian spoke first.

"Er, this is fascinatin' Scorpious, how does it work?" the barbarian asked in bewilderment as he whisked a giant hand through the crackling ring.

"The power of prayer, my friend," he chuckled.

I wanted to gag, but restrained myself.

We started back on the road, and we were able to walk freely through the remainder of the Cold Plains. Several times we were rushed by corrupted rogues, but each time an arm of lightning would branch off one of the circles and electrocute them. There were many items dropped along the way as well that we found, including small chipped amethyst, two minor healing potions, and a portion of snakeskin armor. The two sorcerers decided to take the potions, the gargantuan barbarian took the snakeskin, and the amazon took the gem. The rest of us split a minimal amount of gold.

We traveled for what I guessed was three hours down the path before finally reaching a large fence that stretched as far as the eye could see. The poles of this fence appeared to be made of black iron, and were widely spaced, so we could peer into the cemetery beyond, and ended at the top, with spear points, lest anyone should attempt to climb the fence uninvited. We stood where the path ended at the base of a large gate black iron gate, supported by two stone columns. Atop of either column was a large, life-seized golden statue of a posing rogue warrior, bow in hand. We had come to a complete halt now, taking in the sights and looking for anything out of the ordinary. The rogue captain had said the Blood Raven was raising an army of the dead. We could see nothing, but I felt everything. My body tingled. I could feel the familiar energies of death and the undead at work. The paladin, apparently felt it too, which I must admit, actually surprised me a little.

"An evil force is at work here," he said nobly.

Well, that much was obvious. Everything around us reeked of dark mists and death. But while the Paladin sneered at it, I thrived on it. I took the lead, heartened by my arcane and the energy of this place.

"Let's go, you ninnies. Blood Raven won't simply disappear," I said with mirth.

It had been too long since I had last felt this energy, or been in a place so strong in it. But yet, underneath all the gusto, was a creeping feeling of caution. Something wasn't quite right and I knew it. I grabbed the golden handle of the cemetery gate and pulled the iron doors apart. I took the first steps in, onto the cemetery grass. The others followed after me.

One thing that I immediately noticed upon entry was the fact that the whole place, and not just the spot we occupied, suddenly seemed to grow darker. Some black cloud hung overhead, shadowing the burial ground. Other than that oddity, I could find nothing else immediately wrong with our area. There were many gravestones in the area, of all assorted shapes and sizes, and the graves beneath them looked and felt untouched. I could detect no trace of another necromancer's handiwork, yet. So I looked into the distance. Far in the center, or what I thought might be the center of the cemetery, stood the largest Oak tree I had ever seen. It could have just been the shadow, but its branches and leaves appeared blackened, even from a distance. Or, seeing as the tree was so large and mushroom shaped, it might have been the cause of some of this shadow. Just guessing at my distance I would have had to say that the tree was at least 200 feet tall, and just as round. It was enormous.

Walking deeper into the cemetery and further away from the fence, I started to notice the hair on the necks of my companions stand on end. I saw the assassin stop dead in her tracks and her eyes go slightly wide. She twisted about a quarter of a circle to the right and swung her katars. The head of a greenish zombie, called the Hungry Dead, by variety, flew overhead and landed on a nearby grave. Not surprisingly, with its dying grunt, the dirt on many of the nearby graves began to rattle. Not long after, the ground broke from underneath. The sounds of breaking wood could be heard. Hungry Dead zombies, decaying in all their demented glory, with eyes missing, and rotting skin hanging off where it should have been attached, began reemerging from their graves, in the company of a few skeletons as well. They were the hungry undead, and they were coming after us.

The paladin gripped his holy sword by the handle and yanked it from the sheath. Ironically enough, our auras had stopped working.

"Prepare for battle!" he yelled.

Well, that much was obvious. He was the king of obvious. However, what I knew, wasn't so obvious to everyone else at first. I knew that the Hungry Dead moved much faster than regular zombies; they were as fast as we were. I grabbed my dagger in an inverted grip and pressed the unsharpened edge back against my forearm. The zombies came on fast, as I knew they would. It amazed me that after at least five hundred years, by the looks of some of them, that their flesh would still be able to hold them together, or that they had flesh at all. Their decay seemed to have been slow, and the energies around here seemed to support their reeking gallop towards us.

A large, decomposing fist swung ungracefully at me. I ducked and pulled my arm across my torso, bringing the part of my arm sporting my blade with me, and severing the creature's appendage from its body. Save one grunt, the undead menace showed no signs of pain.

"Stings, don't it?" I mocked to the undead corpse, as it did a double-front kick into its rotting abdomen, sending loose flesh and bone chips scattering everywhere. I spun on my back leg, and cut its head of in one motion. I finished in time to hear a shout behind me. The paladin had been flung across the pathway. He picked himself up and brushed himself off.

"Of all things sacred," he mumbled. The paladin ran charging at his assailant with his sword raised high overhead. He ducked under a flying fist and drove one of the edges of his sword into the creature's skull in an arch. The creature's skull split, and was suddenly engulfed in a strange blue fire. His sword let off a sparkling blue glow as more of the blessed light flowed into the creature, reducing every part that the blade touched to ashes. After finishing with that zombie, the paladin then turned quickly to help the warrior. He was encircled in a mass of walking bones wielding axes, skeletons by name. The warrior's buckler didn't look like it could sustain much more damage, for every few seconds he would parry another blow that left increasingly large dents. He was slowly being overwhelmed, for as soon as he had the opportunity, and struck one down, it seemed another would rush forth from the ranks to fill the gap. I watched as he failed to block a skeleton's blow, and a rusty axe embedded itself into his flesh, right above his left shoulder. He let out a loud cry of pain.

"HANG ON!" the amazon yelled, as she and the sorceress turned from their own battles to rush to his aid.

The weakened warrior's shield finally collapsed and it was like sharks in a feeding frenzy. The skeletons began to madly hack and slash anything they could reach in hopes of taking a piece of the warrior with them. The druid was the first to make his way to the circle, and he and his wolf began bashing chips out of skeleton anatomy, but they did not jar. They could sense death and it excited them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the amazon cup her hands around her mouth and let out an echoing war cry, so loud, you could feel the vibrations. The skeletons also appeared to have felt it, and it dislodged three of them from the fray towards her and the sorceress.

The barbarian caught on and let out another war cry, louder and seemingly more powerful than the amazon's had been. He managed to draw another three away from the group. The first approached the barbarian, but he did not move. The giant merely stood there until the creature pulled back its arm to strike, at which point the grabbed its bony wrist and crushed it to splinters in his bare hand. The creature's axe fell to the ground with what was left of its wrist. The barbarian then embedded his own axe into the creature's skull, cleaving it cleanly in two. The other two swung fiercely, and with amazing speed for a man his size, the barbarian parried both strikes at once, by positioning his axe at an odd angle. He kicked one the skeletons, catching it in the spine just under the ribs. The old bone crunched and the creature snapped in two. The barbarian swiftly destroyed the skeleton that had remained standing with one clean strike. Looking down, he found that the upper half of the skeleton he had just struck was crawling towards the axe of its fallen comrade. He appeared surprised at first, before a look of utter mercilessness fell across his features and he stomped down on the creature's skull, crushing it completely.

Nearby, the amazon was doing repetitive back handsprings just avoiding the trio of axes that sliced the air above her bridged stomach. Upon the rotation of her legs into the air, she kicked wildly, catching one of the skeletons square in the jaw. When she had landed a short distance away, she donned a javelin and twirled it, using the thing as a staff. She shattered the vertebrae of one that held its head to its neck, and it flopped off uselessly. Upon the death of their partner, the other two skeletons closed the distance and began slashing in harmony with each other. The amazon ducked as the sorceress cast an icy mist from her palms that caught both skeletons unaware and froze them into icy statues. The amazon and the sorceress kicked in unison, shattering the ice and the skeletons along with it.

Back at the circle, the paladin was having a difficult time beating off the remaining skeletons, even with the druid's help. The warrior's screaming was increasing as he was parted with more and more of his flesh.

"PIRICUS, HELP US!" the paladin shouted.

I leaned against a nearby gravestone and folded my arms, looking smug. So he wanted my help.

"PIRICUS!" He shouted again more desperately.

"I'm sorry paladin, what was that? Did you say something?" The look on his face was priceless. In that moment, however, the amazon had approached me.

"For God's sake Piricus, do something! He's dying!" she said, with a note a panic in her voice.

I laughed bitterly.

"God's sake. . . You'll have to do better."

She glared at me hatefully.

"This is bigger than a petty quarrel, or whatever you have against paladins!" she roared out of nowhere, "This is a man's life, Piricus! Are you going to let Ryelass die because of you derive some sort of sick pleasure from torturing Scorpious? All because of a religious difference!? How could you just let someone die like that! How could you!? Please help him!" Her words went from harsh, to pleading soft.

I yawned.

"People have died for stupider reasons. Anyway, as you may have noticed, I don't exactly like him. Why should I help him? The fool got himself into that mess, and even if you could extract him, he's likely to die anyway. I could get a good skeleton from his corpse though. . . ." I said in thought.

I have never seen anyone look at me the way she looked at me then. With her deep blue eyes, so full of hatred, and so full of fire. It was something I admired, although I couldn't place my finger on it just then. Maybe it was the power in her that I admired, or the resolve, either way, for some reason, I felt obliged to help her. I would do this for her, and perhaps to remind the paladin that I wasn't some everyday little mage. I glared back at the amazon for moment with equal intensity.

"You'll owe me," I said briskly.

"Anything. Just do it," she answered.

I nodded slyly and shot a bolt of green energy towards the center of the mass of skeletons. A cage of bone appeared around him, absorbing the blows of the axes. I turned to her.

"Happy now? I'd probably go pick them off. That cage is strong, but it won't hold forever."

She didn't smile at me, but she didn't frown either.

"Thank you, Piricus," she said with gratitude.

"Watch your back amazon. I'm not feeling so charitable as to do this twice in one day," I said with my usual sarcasm.

The paladin swung powerfully, cleaving a temporary hole through the skeletal mass, however it closed up again just as quickly.

"This is getting nowhere!" I heard him remark in urgency. He pulled back from the fight, closed his eyes, and turned his palms toward the sky. His mouth started moving, although I could not distinguish the words, undoubtedly more prayers. Bright, white, sparkling balls of light began popping up in the area, and the air began to warm. It felt like some of the darkness had been lifted and if it was possible, that a higher power had somehow been invoked within the cemetery. The skeletons began to run amok, withering in freakish, silent agony. I could almost hear their painful screams. Those within a more immediate radius gave a final shudder, then fell lifelessly to the damp earth. The paladin stopped his aura and rushed to the bone cage. I released the energy holding the long, off-white bones of the cage together. The bones collapsed into the upturned soil.

The amazon tried to bolt to the warrior's side, but I grabbed her arm. She whirled on me with furry.

"Let me go, he needs help!"

I grinned at her attempt to struggle free of my hold.

"You'd just get in the way. They don't need you. The paladin can handle it. It's what they do," I said with accented disgust for the last words of my sentence.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. Taking a deep breath she sighed.

"You're right. Everyone here has high healing skills, but if anyone can help, it's Scorpious."

"Precious paladin to the rescue," I chided, making her sigh in frustration.

"By Zerae . . ." I heard her breathe, and followed her gaze to the mass that was the warrior.

He had been hacked and mauled at almost every angle of his body, and was a bathed in his own blood. Yet, somehow, I sensed he was still alive. There was life energy in him still. I curved a finger forward, motioning the amazon to follow me, as we walked towards them.

"RYELASS, SPEAK TO ME!"

The barbarian was behaving rather childishly, for he had tears running down his cheeks. The sorceress had buried her head in the sorcerer's chest, looking away.

"In the name of the most holy Lord I pray . . . ."

The paladin had taken to his knees and clasped his hands together in prayer. The broken body that was the warrior gave a weak moan.

"He's not healing fast enough, we're losing him," the assassin growled in haste and concern, "Everyone, give me your healing potions," she commanded.

I saw the amazon hasten to unclasp the two on her belt, and one by one, everyone who had potions gave them.

The assassin gently lifted the limp, bloody warrior's head, while the barbarian held his body steady. One after painstaking one, the raven-haired assassin drained every vial of healing potion down his throat. The feeling of death began to fade from him, as his body magically pulled itself together in repair. The warrior opened his eyes, and the barbarian pulled him to his feet slowly. The warrior staggered, but swiftly regained his balance. The little man grinned at his large friend.

"I'm in good health Alminus, it's alright. Thanks to you, thanks to you all," he said a little shakily, but with heart. The gargantuan man gave his friend a large bear hug, before shaking him.

"Don't yeh ever do that again!" he said, although jovially.

"God be praised!" exclaimed the paladin at the sight of the recovery.

"Of course . . ." I said scathingly to him.

He shook his head at me, and then gave the warrior a nod.

"Good to have you back with us," he said in relief.

The assassin nodded in agreement, but added,

"It's good that he is well again, that was too close for comfort, however, I feel we should keep moving, it's not wise to linger in any one place to long. Especially since these. . . things," she said with disgust, as she accidentally stepped on the hand of a fallen zombie causing a sickening crunch, "might somehow pull themselves back together. You never know with necromancy," she added, looking directly at me.

I returned her stare.

"No _you_ don't."

No one questioned that bit of logic and we started back on our way. We proceeded through the cemetery quietly and cautiously. We had almost reached the distant inner gate after a while, and it would not be long before we entered the heart of the cemetery.

"_AHAHAHAHAHA!_"

A loud and unearthly laugh echoed off the graves and rang through the air. And it could only be one thing. That cruel and sadistic laugh could only belong to a demon. . . . I saw a number of my companions jump in surprise, clutching their weapons. The Amazon's inner sight must have tweaked, because she glowed with same aura that the strange, star-shaped lights that just appeared did.

"Blood Raven," the amazon and the assassin said together.

"Where is she?" the paladin asked at once.

The assassin looked to the amazon, and she merely looked ahead, and pointed wordlessly, as though any spoken word or thought would draw her to us. I followed her gaze out to the abnormally large Oak tree. The paladin nodded.

"Well let's go then. We know what needs to be done."

We each steeled ourselves, as we continued down the path and finally reached the cemetery's inner gate. We didn't even have time to open the door, but there was no need; Hungry Dead, and a mass of them, were already opening it from the other side. The assassin jumped forward and performed a snap kick with such force that it slammed the gate shut.

"Allow me," the sorceress said, nudging the assassin to the side, before blasting an inferno of fire through the bars. Several undead dropped, however several more were still rushing the gate. The sorcerer stepped up beside the sorceress and lingered at her side.

"Together?" he asked her, although as more as a plan than a suggestion. They stood side by side, she nodded, and they both fired twin jets of Inferno. After those two powerful blasts of sorcery, the gate was finally clear enough to open safely.

"Okay then, we're on a strike first, ask questions later basis now," the paladin announced, and he kicked the partially melted gate door open again, stepping over the smoldering zombie corpses as he went.

Entering the inner portions of the burial ground, I observed that there was a large square-shaped building with a gray dome in front of us. Evidently, time had diminished the splendor of what I guessed was once a glittering chrome building. A few dull spots of tarnish were still visible in small places, hinting at the once chrome color, although it was difficult to really discern anything, the whole roof of the building was covered in some thick ivy. An iron gate, much like the others of the cemetery barred a second wooden door that lie behind it, obviously the entranceway into the building.

"Mausoleum," I said simply, more intended for myself than anyone else.

"What's that you said, Piricus?" the barbarian asked; having been behind me he must have overheard me.

I was about to criticize his lack of knowledge, but the druid cut in before I could reply.

"He was referring to that building over there," he answered, gesturing to it, "it's a mausoleum, a building full of tombs."

I sighed inwardly. A building full of tombs? How quaint. To me, it was much more. Did no one else notice that having a necromancer -- well, two, if you counted Blood Raven -- around, made that building also a potential hazard? I noted its location; it could come in handy to me, given I was the only one among us that possessed the power to use it.

We proceeded to the core of the cemetery, and when we got there, I was surprised to find nothing whatsoever. Not a single zombie, or a single noise. . .it was a still, deadly silence. It could only be an ambush, and the only question was where they could come from. All the graves in this area had clearly been uprooted and the corpses were nowhere to be seen or felt. Strange, since I _knew_ that we hadn't littered the ground with enough bodies to account for all the unoccupied graves. Not nearly enough . . . .

"Fan out," the paladin said so quietly, he could have been miming.

He knew it too, and like me, he was attempting to pinpoint where an attack would spring from. We all spread out, each of us covering another portion of ground around the tree, in completely silence. Silence that was shattered moments later by the damn sorceress. She had backed into something solid from what I could see, but it took my startled mind a few seconds before I could properly process the image. Several dead rogues were dangling from the tree's branches, both high and low, with nooses around their necks made from a very thick rope. Some looked like they had been dead for a while, the rot had already set in, however some also looked freshly deceased. A slight breeze, the first all day, choose that moment to waft through the area, gently shaking the tree and its parts, making the rogue corpses sway and bob like grotesque puppets. The wind had blown one into the sorceress' back, she had turned around to find herself face to face with one of the more recently executed rogues. She had screamed, but managed to stifle it halfway through. She was now rooted to the spot gazing at the scene before her in horror, or possibly the realization that her moment of weakness may have just cost us our cover. The large, black sorcerer had come immediately to her side, and grabbing her hand, he gently led her away from the scene. I saw him exchange a reassuring glance with her, before he brushed his hand against her cheek. What a sentimental and stupid moment, and here of all places.

The two did not have time to savor the moment, because the druid's wolf pet began growling fiercely, backing in front of his master, away from the tree.

"JOIN MY ARMY OF THE DEAD!" A pale white demon jumped out of the highest branch of the tree, where it had been lying in wait. The decayed hand that belonged to that body, reached for the pair of mages with long, sharp nails that were more like talons. The sorcerer shielded the sorceress' exposed head with his arm just in time to receive the full force of the demon's attack.

In the heat of the demon's attack, I saw the monster called Blood Raven clearly. She looked like a cross between a zombie and a corrupted rogue. What was left of her skin was in patches and had the same uneven, rough texture to it that the plains rogues did. However, hers was a pale, milk-white color. The rest of her, or more appropriately I should refer to the creature as an 'it', for I don't know how you could call something that distorted a "woman", was exposed yellowish bone covered by unnatural and diseased looking muscles. The Blood Raven also had horns sprouting from her forehead that were so long, they curved back slightly, and one unsightly patch of hair tied back in a ponytail on the back of her otherwise bald head. On her back, Blood Raven carried a light cherry wood crossbow. She wore the same outfit as a rogue guard, but there were many holes and decay to be found throughout it. It was more like a set of rags. She turned, as if she could sense me staring at her, and for a moment, her red eyes locked with mine. It was an unspoken thing; a challenge between two enemies, but more importantly, two necromancers.

"Hey bitch, why don't you come and play with the rest of us? We're getting lonely." I mocked as I wiped an imaginary tear from my eye.

Her already demonic eyes flashed an unnatural, deep black. It was on.

"MY ARMY WILL DESTROY YOU!" she bellowed in her obnoxiously loud, forceful, and ghostly echo.

The ground began to shake as the few remaining graves were brought to life, their occupants emerging spraying soil like water. We began to hear the familiar grunts and moans of the undead, as they suddenly started appearing out of every place imaginable. Behind gravestones, up from the ground, and even down from the tree. Just how the hell did they get up there anyway?

"Piricus. . . ." the paladin growled in exasperation.

I smiled at him.

"What?"

"AHHAHAHAHAHA!" came that retched laugh again, as the undead demon pulled the crossbow off her back.

She wasn't my only problem at that moment. I pivoted ninety degrees and stabbed the Hungry Dead that had grabbed my arm in the forehead. That was the end of that little problem, then again maybe not, as we were being swarmed by the undead. I focused hard on my inner magic, and pulled the darkened air energies into my body. My stored energy began to flow out, and I gained a poisonous ring around myself that steadily rippled out. The Hungry Dead began to turn pale green in color and twitch. The twitching was soon replaced by seizures, and soon after accompanied by death as my poison nova took hold.

"Watch out!" I heard the amazon yell to me.

I cocked my head to one side, letting the Blood Raven's crossbow bolt miss me and embed itself into the tree trunk behind me.

There were at least fifteen corpses around me from my Poison Nova; corpses that I could now use as my own, having ridded them of Blood Raven's control. I took to work, channeling spirits from the dark realms that I controlled into their bodies giving them the breath of life. Their skeletons arose one by one to serve me. Blood Raven looked on in confusion. I laughed.

"Now my army will destroy _you_!" My skeletons began to advance on the demon, as she began rapidly firing from her crossbow, sending bolts in no general direction. I saw the druid's wolf pet catch an arrow in its teeth that would have struck its master, and I saw the amazon deflect another stray bolt aside with her bracers. The barbarian and the paladin were both busy nearby, hacking away at the Hungry Dead with the assassin jabbing away beside them.

My skeletons had reached Blood Raven, through her barrage, and were actually fairing well against her; most of her bolts were contained in their shields. Then, things really started to go to the tail end of Trag Oul. The Blood Raven fired an arrow that burst into fire. It hit my lead skeleton with full force and destroyed it. The arrow continued through three more skeletons, then exploded, killing two more.

"Immolation Arrows!?" the amazon cried out in alarm, as Blood Raven kicked two more of my skeletons into pieces with unnatural strength. The demon poured forth her energy into the ground and all around us; every zombie we had dispatched around us rose again.

"Scorpious, use you Sanctuary Aura!" the sorceress cried.

"O Course!" the barbarian said in exclamation, "Should buy us, some time!"

"That's if we have any to sacrifice first! Please hurry or we'll be overwhelmed!" the assassin declared as she batted a line of undead away with her katars.

The paladin got a glazed look in his eyes, almost as if he was at peace, and he raised his hands to the sky and began to chant again. We were once again engulfed in white stars tingly to the touch, not that unlike the Amazon's inner sight. These ubiquitous stars had the same effect on this batch of zombies as it did on the last one. They began to twist in agony as the silent stars ate through their rotting flesh. The zombie mass began dropping like flies on a hot summer day, and staying down, despite what appeared to be Blood Ravens attempts to keep raising them.

"DUCK!" the sorceress yelled as a large barrage of bolts came whizzing in our direction.

I received a good, close look at the razor-sharp tips that adorned Blood Raven's bolts, for I managed to catch one just inches from my nose. I saw my skeletons begin to drop, the paladin's aura was killing them as well as the Blood Raven's.

"Maria, Vendra, Sovellis, Cloudyous, on my signal, used your best ranged attack," the Amazon yelled.

The four warriors did not doubt or question her, but stepped forward into place beside her.

"Steady. . .almost . . ."

Blood Raven continued dance around beyond our reach firing a barrage of bolts.

"NOW!" the Amazon warrior yelled as she flung a metallic silver javelin towards Blood Raven. The gleaming silver javelin was shortly accompanied by a fireball and a bolt of lightning.

I felt the wind begin to pick up, and suddenly become fiercely wild. The air currents began to collide and converge, becoming a turbulent, swirling cyclone of air. I recognized this new occurrence to be a twister, for it was too small to have been an actual tornado.

The ranged attacks flew quickly towards the rogue demon, catching her off guard. The female demon's eyes widened as she frantically ducked to the side of the Amazon's javelin. The lightning bolt followed closely behind it, crackling in a deadly power. Blood Raven dodged this attack too; she bent directly back so that she was level with her knees. 'Only a demon's spine could do that,' I thought to myself.

We had a break of luck; as the demon rose again, the fireball crashed into her. However, she was more agile than we could have ever imagined, as she curved to an unnatural angle, halving the damage. Still, the fireball grazed her shoulder, and blue-black demon's blood began leaking from the burn. To further our good fortunes, she staggered right into the path of the druid's twister. She let out a furious scream as the forceful wind began to engulf her, and lift her into the air. I almost got dizzy watching the female demon whirl with the twister.

The wind got faster and faster, as Blood Raven was thrown higher and higher into the cyclone, and carried further away. The cyclone finally rounded the bend, taking Blood Raven with it.

"Is that it?" the barbarian asked, when the silence had settled in moments later.

"That was too easy," the sorceress said aloud in triumph.

For once, I agreed with her. That was too easy. Something still didn't feel right.

"It's too quiet," I said more to myself than anyone, "Let's give it another few minutes. I don't want that bitch to shoot me in the back when I turn around."

After ten minutes more of silence, and of waiting, the sorceress sighed loudly and impatiently.

"She's gone, Piricus. There's no sign of her. Can we go now?" she sighed. "Just because you didn't kill her doesn't mean we have to stay here and mourn over some unfinished necromancer's duel," she added, after seeing the look on my face.

I snarled. "Sorceress, you have no idea what you're talking about, and you know nothing of the ways of necromancy, nor the ways of war. The Zhan-Esu must have really lowered their standards if they let someone like you represent their order. Such ignorance, _mage_," I said, mocking her on the last word. As usual, her face contorted with anger and she was about to reply, but once _again_ the paladin intervened.

"This conversation should stop here. Piricus, I agree with Vendra. We've been here for over a quarter hour and there's no sign of Blood Raven, or any of her zombies. We should all return to the rogue camp, we're wasting time here."

"Paladin, you are not at liberty to dictate when the beginning or end of any of my conversations will occur. Don't cross me paladin, especially not here in a cemetery. But, I thought you would have known that. Maybe it's not just the Zhan-Esu that is eroding. . .oh yes, I forgot. The Zakarum always held such low standards."

Once more, I saw a righteous fire shine behind his eyes, however he said nothing in reply. He merely turned and began to lead the way back toward the cemetery entrance, with the others following him. All the others, myself excluded.

"It would appear that we have bested Blood Raven," I heard the druid remark.

It was that moment when my instincts proved to be correct.

"FOOLISH MORTALS!" came Blood Raven's mocking, demonic voice. I quickly glanced around, trying to trace the sound of the reverberating noise. I caught sight of the demon, atop the mausoleum, just as she sprung into action.

"THE RIGHTEOUS WILL FALL FIRST!" she bellowed. I only had a chance to glimpse the look of shock on the paladin's face, before a black crossbow bolt, faster than I could really see, bit deeply and directly into the middle of his turned back.

The paladin gave out a loud yell, and fell to his knees in pain. Monumental amounts of blood began gushing forth all over him, and the ground the holy man knelt on. The injured paladin reached back for the bolt weakly, but then keeled over onto his side.

"SCORPIOUS!" came the Amazon's horrified yell, for she was the one closest to him.

Blood Raven laughed evilly and reloaded her crossbow.

"ONE DOWN," she cooed almost pleasurably.

I could feel the life draining from the paladin's body as rapidly as his blood, and I momentarily just stood, surveying the sight before me. The stupid paladin, I had warned him. Not that I would be sad in the least if he died. It would be fitting end for fitting arrogance. In fact, I was debating whether or not to just finish him off myself and put him out of both his and my misery, when it dawned on me. The zombies were beginning to arise again, all around us from where they had fallen, because the paladin's aura had been the only thing that was keeping them down.

"Oh shit," I growled and quickly unsheathed my dagger again as the undead army began to encircle us. The assassin looked up from where she had run to the paladin's side as she heard me.

"Oh damn. . .God damn! We're out of Town Portals, bandages and healing potions!" she cursed as she stood and readied herself to battle the surrounding undead.

I saw the wolf crouch in front of the druid before he spoke.

"Without Scorpious' aura, they won't stay dead long enough for us to deal with Blood Raven, however, I do have a trick that should buy us enough time to get to the mausoleum, and bar the door," he announced.

"What, you going to eat their corpses, druid?" I said in exasperation. The way it was looking, we didn't have enough time or space to reach the mausoleum, even with the short distance away it was.

The druid managed a weak grin. "My vine will," he answered and placed his hands to the ground, emitting a light, earthy brown energy mass into it. We waited for a moment, and still nothing.

"Well?" I growled impatiently, taking a swipe at a zombie that had ventured to close for my liking.

"It takes a moment for the Carrion Vine to work up an appetite," he answered back with confidence.

I saw the sorceress leap back as a large, green, and snake-like tube arched out of the ground and dived into a corpse at her feet. I didn't have time to observe this newcomer, I was soon to busy dealing with a great mass of rotting flesh that had charged me. The creature had a very bizarre pace; it was slow, yet powerful, like a grotesque tiger. I brought my right leg up and spun it high into the air, then back to its starting point in a spinning kick. The zombie's head flopped off upon the impact of my boot, and fell into pieces. There was a splurging sound, and then old, mostly dry blood flecked my boots. The dull green vine had looped through another corpse.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the barbarian's axe cleanly sever a zombie's leg from its body. I heard a faint whizzing and immediately performed a diving roll on the ground not a moment too soon; a crossbow bolt embedded itself into the middle of a cross-shaped gravestone that had been behind me. Another buzzing sound found me rolling behind another gravestone for protection against another of the Blood Raven's bolts. Something else also came to my attention after that second blast. It became apparent, especially when I caught sight of the Amazon catching a bolt three inches from her breast and the sorceress deflecting another with a spire of ice at the same time I had dodged them, that Blood Raven could fire multiple bolts. Another group of bolts brought the druid down into the dirt as well, and sent the mage to his knees.

The assassin skillfully deflected another arrow away from the paladin with her right katar over to my left.

"We must get to her soon, or Scorpious is going to die!" the short warrior bellowed from his position with a voice full of emotion.

Forget the paladin. If we didn't find some cover, we were _all_ going to die. I concentrated dark energy into my hand, and as if on cue, it turned a radiant blue.

"Barbera Teetha." My blue energy suddenly took shape into what resembled snake's fangs, and then rocked off my hand, eating a bloody trail through the withered, decrepit zombies that had been surging forward. The way became clear when the Amazon dropped the last zombie with a flying silver javelin. The assassin saw the opening as well.

"Alminus, quickly! Carry Scorpious!" she barked. The man lumbered over in a manner not unlike a bear, and did as he was told. The dying paladin's blood saturated the little to no armor that the barbarian wore in almost an instant, and soon, the barbarian's skin as well. It didn't take the zombies, which I knew were intoxicated by the energy and scent of blood, long to notice them, and begin grouping after them. Surprisingly, the barbarian didn't need to be told to run, because he instantly abandoned his battle and charged towards the mausoleum. The two magi stepped in behind him, with their frost shields crackling, to shield him from the entourage that was following. The warrior and the druid managed to slide in behind them, and the rest of us followed suit, slashing, bashing, or hacking wildly at any zombie that got too close. The assassin and the Amazon brought up the rear, cutting bolts in half and deflecting them.

I focused solely on the mausoleum door looming before me and sprinted into the darkness below without a second thought.


	7. Chapter 7

Into the Mausoleum

Piricus

Once the amazon and the assassin had made it down the stairs the warrior chucked the nearest piece of old, rotting wood into the amazon's hand from a pile at the corner of the entrance room. My guess was that it came from a few caved-in rafters of the ceiling, where the roof had been worn away. The amazon began barring the now shut iron doorway plank by horizontal plank with the aid of the barbarian. They were tightly wedging the wood between the door and the doorframe, by hammering planks into the crevices. With one final hammer of the back of the barbarian's axe the doors were barred and the last rays of light eradicated. Blood Raven however, did not appear discouraged in the least by our concealment. Her taunts seemed to come through the walls as if she were right behind us.

"NO WALLS WILL HOLD OUT THE BLOOD RAVEN! YOU WILL ALL PERISH!" The blade of a demonic bolt crashed through the iron door and the crude wooden barricade.

"Holy shit!" I growled in shock, as I leapt away from the door.

The sorceress seemed to be near a state of panic. "Bolts can only do so much. They can't break the door, and they can't harm us unless we're close to it," she tried to reason, with a frightened quiver in her voice. Several more bolts hit the door.

The assassin was busy in the corner setting multiple pieces of old wood aflame for torches we could carry with some odd hot orange glow from around her fists. She would punch aside of the timbers, letting the trail of the red glow from around her fists catch them. This process intrigued me, because now our surrounding were lit. I looked down to find myself standing on a large, milky white piece of tile with a gravestone inscription upon it, held in place by a lining of square rocks in the floor. As I bent down to get a closer look, I heard the sorceress yelp, followed by a series of loud thumps and demonic rambling.

"Damn! She's going to break down the door!" the warrior cried out as he hurried to put more support on the wooden barricades.

"So much fur stayin away from the door! She's gonna kill us anyway!" the barbarian grunted while he hurled the last piece of available wood supply into the warrior's hands.

The assassin took command again. "We need something to stall the demon when she breaks through the door, and from the looks of things, that's inevitable now. Anyone have something to contribute?" she said, glancing over the considering faces of my companions. The mage and the sorceress looked up.

"We can form static field in front of door. It will hurt greatly, even to demon," the sorcerer replied.

The raven-haired assassin nodded to the sorcerer's suggestion. "That's a start but it won't be enough. We'll need more."

The druid came forth. "I can summon a poison vine to hang from the ceiling," he offered.

She nodded again in response. "Good, Piricus can you cast one of your bone walls?" she asked, addressing me.

I snickered at her boldness. "Assassin why should I waste my mana? I was the only one who didn't underestimate Blood Raven. I told all of you that the demon was not dead, but apparently she must have cast a deafening curse on the lot of you. You ears might as well have just fallen off and in your case, that might actually make you more attractive."

She scowled and then lost her temper. "For once would you think of someone other than yourself? Scorpious is dying for God's sake! And if you don't help us, everyone here is going to die, including yourself! Your own ass is in the coals right now too!"

I returned her glare. "I could care less if the paladin dies, and you can die to for all I care for your cowardice of death. But you're right about one thing. As for me I have to live. I have another ass to kick before I meet my end." I pulled my dark arcane energy about myself and naturally my hand turned yellow-green with the aura of a necromancer. I put a light amount of energy into my palm. It was a slight amount, but it would hold a bone wall for about thirty minutes. I shoved the colored energy towards the ground just in front of the door, feeling slightly drained afterwards.

The ground where the energy impacted temporarily absorbed the aura's color, then faded. One of the more clever necromancer disguises, if you ask me. That was designed to trick our enemies into believing that the energy we just threw was a bluff. Seconds later a wall of compacted bone seven feet high erupted in front of the barred door. The highest point was littered with jagged, uneven bone spikes. The section of wall was just long enough to cover the door.

The assassin grudgingly sighed at me. "Thank you, Piricus. Vendra, Sovellis, cast your static field now, just after the bone wall."

The female mage nodded. "Come on, Sovellis."

The air in the room began to heat up and eventually crackle, affecting a circular area. The large area became filled with sparking electricity, as the two magi reached the top of their spell. They backed down to recuperate and the druid stepped up to perform his summons. He raised his hands up towards the overgrown Wisteria vine dangling in the rafters under the cracked ceiling. Strangely, it came alive and began creeping towards the druid. The vine reached the final rafter and then fell down, dropping at his feet.

The orange-haired druid then knelt to the ground to meet the plant and touched it gently, causing a small green spark. Green light shot through the plant and it began moving again, this time going up the wall and hanging itself just short of the static field. I knew what the druid had done, because I knew that green light well. It was the enhancement of poison.

"Does anyone have an empty potion bottle?" the assassin asked, looking around.

"I . . .I . . .do . . ." the paladin groaned weakly.

The assassin knelt down and took the four empty glass flasks from his quivering, outstretched hand. (The barbarian had set him against the back wall). She then turned and put a hand reassuringly on his blood-soaked shoulder.

"Easy, my friend. We'll get you out of here, alive. You have my word that you will not die this day if I have anything to say about it."

The tan-skinned paladin grinned faintly. "Save . . . Your.. . . Selves . . Do . .n . .not. . .die .. .because . . Of . . .because of . . .me," he pleaded as he labored to breathe.

The black clad assassin lowered her head in some bizarre form of meditation. She snapped her head up and her eyes open suddenly, and thrust her left fist forward in a snapping punch. As she reached the climax of her punch, her moving fist popped into flame. She then began to do a series of knife-hands and punches rapidly with her flaming hand while catching it into the empty flasks with the other. I expected the fire to instantly die, without any oil or other material to feed itself on, but it kept burning.

"Well I'll be a dragon's uncle!" the barbarian exclaimed. "How n sanctuary does that fire still burn?"

The assassin answered him in as few words as possible, as if trying to guard some precious secret. "Assassin shadow disciplines," she commented as she began skillfully placing the flaming jars. She concealed them well, at weird angles just after the druid's poison vine.

"Thirty-seven degrees should give it just the potency," she mumbled to herself.

The amazon inspected the fire jar that had been hidden at her feet. "Maria are these fire bombs?"

The assassin nodded in reply.

"Interesting. How do they work?" the druid asked her. Another slam almost broke the door to splinters.

"I will explain later, Cloudyous, but now we need to find a potion if we can," she answered handing him one of her makeshift torches.

"That sounds good to me," the sorceress said rather skittishly to no one in particular.

Soon we all had torches, well, save the almost dead paladin of course. Speaking of him, the barbarian had used the snakeskin armor he had received earlier to make a type of stretcher for the paladin that we could drag. He however, was still bleeding slowly to his death. The amazon walked over to the sorceress.

"Forgive me Vendra, I promise to repay you later," she announced.

The sorceress gave her an odd look and backed away from her defensively. "Excuse me!? What the hell do you think you're . . .HEY!"

The amazon had grabbed hold of one of her loose and breezy robe sleeves, and ripped it cleanly off.

"Damn it, what the hell!?" the sorceress griped.

The amazon ignored the peeved off sorceress and handed the cloth to the assassin who stood waiting. The assassin bent down and pressed the soft cloth on the paladin's wound, which even now had not yet stanched. On my necromantic intuition, he had about four minutes left to live and I was never wrong on the issues of death. Blood sprayed onto the assassin's fair skin as she applied pressure to the wound.

The sorceress growled. "Damn it! That was my Zhan-Esu apprentice robe . . . I can't replace it.

"Maybe not Zhan-Esu, but you have spare in trunk. Scorpious need it more," the sorcerer said to her, giving her a reproving look.

"But . . " she began, "I guess you're right . . . I mean it was just a sleeve right? I can always sew another . . ." she reasoned. "I guess. Do you need the other one too?" she offered, holding it out.

I stopped listening to the female mage's tailoring problems, they were boring my intellect anyway.

"ARGH . . A . . !" the paladin groaned as his body arched in pain and began to quiver.

The assassin tried to restrain him as lightly as she could, trying to keep his bodily damage minimal, but he was so strong that soon the barbarian had to help her.

"Scorpious, resist it, You need ter stop movin'!" the barbarian said forcefullyand pinned him down.

The paladin's face was wracked with pain and twisted into almost a scream as sweat began to break all over his body. He gave a final shudder and then fell unconscious upon the makeshift stretcher.

"How long does he hav?" the barbarian asked in concern.

"Well, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that the bleeding has stopped and the wound had begun to clog. The bad news is that he's already lost so much blood he'll die anyway if we don't get him so treatment. He needs Akara or a potion. Badly," the assassin assessed.

The warrior shook his head. "We're in an entombment chamber without potions. How on Sanctuary are we going to help him?"

For the first time the barbarian showed a little intelligence.

"Well accordin ter Akara,rogues r supposed to be buried with their treasures. So if we open them tombs . . ."

"HELL NO!" the sorceress objected. "I am not opening tombs to see more dead, decaying bodies!" she shouted annoyingly.

"Either you come with us or you could still be here when Blood Raven breaks though the door," I suggested coldly..

"NO! Er . . That's okay," she swallowed hard then grabbed the male mage's arm.

I followed the assassin into the shadows as she began leading the way into the corridors of the mausoleum. I found another tombstone, then stomped down hard on it. The aged marble gave way easily enough and caved in. I saw only a roughly dressed skeleton still clutching a cracked hunter's bow in her dead hands.

I saw the amazon and the barbarian work together to carefully lift up the marble cover stone of the grave beside me. The barbarian reached in and removed a small, white gemstone, looking at the assassin. She answered his unspoken question.

"We shouldn't loot their graves unless it's something we have dire need for. Otherwise, you'll anger their spirits," she warned.

The giant man nodded gravely and gently placed the chipped diamond back beside the rogue. Then he and the amazon re-covered her tomb.

The druid lifted one too, then came up with a mana potion and a cracked dirk, both of which he put back. His wolf pet was behaving oddly again. It acted as if it were in mortal danger and never strayed even one step away from the druid.

The sorceress stayed close to the sorcerer as he opened a caved-in tomb by clearing away the debris.

"Look Vendra. See, not bad. Quiet and peaceful," he said to her with his hand on her shoulder. The sorceress encouraged by the male mage leaned down to get a better look at the corpse. I was five feet away from her so I saw what she saw.

"Well, alright. I guess it's not so bad," she remarked to him quietly and bent down to touch it.

I turned by back to her, smirking. "Structuris Necro . . ."

Raising a skeleton in a mausoleum brought back memories of my original training. It hadn't been all that long in truth since I had entered my first mausoleum with my teacher and began to learn resurrection. Just as I anticipated, the raise skeleton spell took effect the exact moment she had touched the frame of the long-dead body.

"OH MY GOD!!" she shouted in alarm as she jumped backwards into the sorcerer knocking them both onto the ground. The skeleton sat up in the grave, as if just waking up from a long night's sleep. Then it stood up and stepped out of it's resting place.

"What in the blazes!?" I heard the warrior yell as he drew his sword. The fool had probably not shaken the memory of his last encounter with such undead.

I began twirling my finger, but slowly, trying to suppress brightening yellow-green glow. The skeleton, on my command, started walking in circles around the pair of mages, whom had both taken back to their feet as quickly as they were able. The sorceress squealed like a frightened child having a nightmare.

"Sovellis, don't just stand there, HELP ME!" she wailed so loudly, the ceiling shook.

I couldn't help myself. The sorceress was so afraid of her own shadow. The skeleton wasn't even attacking her. I burst out laughing so hard I forgot to disassemble the skeleton. It walked to my side, giving me away.

"PIRICUS!" she yelled in rage toward me, causing me to laugh harder, clutching my side as it began to ache.

"Look who claims to be so brave?" I managed to choke out at last.

"I . . I . . .I HATE YOU!" she snarled and charged at me like a mad bull with her short staff raised into a fighting stance.

In the seconds after she began charging I flicked my fingertips. The covers slid off a large number of the tombs to allow the rocketing bones to fly out of their resting places and hurl towards me. Instead of hitting me however, they began to encircle me. When they finished they had formed n orbiting, unsurpassable barrier. The famous necromancer bone shield. Bones were so much easier to control when they were laying around already. Otherwise I had to conjure them.

The sorceress smashed her quarter staff into the prepared bone shield. She didn't stop her attack with just that one blow however. In pure humiliation and frustration she struck my bone shield four more times. Twice more furiously with her short stick, and she even tried two casts of charged bolts, buzzing balls of electricity that stumbled into no particular target. To her absolute outrage, my shield of compacted bone didn't even have a dent in it.

"Two tips for survival, sorceress. One: Never attack a necromancer in a mausoleum full of death energy. Two: The first thing I learned as a necromancer was a decent shield."

She cursed at me with a mouthful of foul words, but then withdrew realizing I was untouchable to her at that moment. Everyone else was now glaring at me spitefully.

"Do not disrupt us any further!" the warrior growled in a low, guttural threat. "Not even necromancers should play with the dead that way."

I smirked, a cunning comeback already on the tip of my tongue. "Well apparently neither should short little warriors who get caught in a circle of them."

He shrugged it off, but in his eyes I caught a glimpse of the shame hidden within them.

The barbarian apparently noticed it too. "Why don't ya keep yur mouth shut! Ryelass is a finer warrior than you'll ever be!" he said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

I was not intimidated. "And who's going to prove that barbarian, you? I sure hope you fight better than you speak," I snapped back at him.

"Yur really askin for it!" he growled and pulled his axe back.

The amazon intervened to my annoyance. "Stop it! Stop arguing this instant! If the two of you are going to duel wait until we get back to the encampment! Scorpious is dying! We don't have time to waste on your childish pranks and crude insults, Piricus."

"Chyemme is right. Please, Alminus, put it aside for now," the assassin pleaded with him.

The barbarian scoffed then looked away, and all was quiet again. When he did look at me again he mumbled, "Yur not worth my time, but mark my words, Ryelass will prove imself to ya."

With that settled, we entered the next room through a stone passage cut out of the wall. The ceiling was low in this area, just about a few inches from our heads. The sorcerer, easily the tallest of us all, was having crouch down somewhat. In this room we found a group of defiled coffins, probably the work of tomb thieves. The druid knelt down and began examining the heading on one of the graves, peering into it also to look for potions.

"What does it say?" the sorceress asked him while eyeing my skeleton that lingered between the two of us in disdain.

"I can only make out parts of it. It's been a long time since I read roguish runes and parts of the inscription have been worn away," he answered, bringing his torch closer to it for more lighting.

"The part you can read, what does it say?" the assassin questioned him as she walked over to examine it for herself.

The druid used his sleeve to wipe away the excess rock soot, then read, "Here lies Diana, brave to the last. Entered into eternal rest in the year 11 A.D. Born . . . That's were this passage ends."

"Is that entire message?" the large black sorcerer asked him.

The druid ran his fingers through his sweaty orange bangs. "I'll skip down. Let's see . . .basically it's a recorded curse. Whosoever disturbs her grave will join her in death."

The sorceress sighed in relief. "Well, we're not the ones who robbed her so we should be safe."

The druid nodded in response. "We should be fine as long as we don't take anything."

I pulled my bone wand out of my pocket and put it in my other hand. I could feel the undead energy level begin to rise. I pushed the wand to the back of my palm and sharply snapped my fingers. My skeleton went to the ready.

"What are you doing?" the amazon asked me.

I had a nearly irresistible urge to snap at her, but I figured telling her to stay out of my business was better. I leaned close to her ear and whispered , "Trust me, you'll probably figure it out in a minute. And next time, if what I'm doing is your business, you'll know," I said with an edge. The girl needed to quit being a busybody, but then again, she was nobody's fool. Instead of backing away like I had anticipated her to, she stepped forward, then whispered in my ear,

"Do not mock me Piricus, for you are just wasting your breath. Amazons are not afraid to die."

I actually smiled for once. It must have scared her because I saw her tense. "Well then, we'll see. I might actually test you on that."

She nodded. "Feel free. You'll find out how strong my will is." She walked ahead of me towards the assassin.

"Anyone find a potion yet?" the warrior asked, looking into another grave.

"No luck," the barbarian remarked after moving a large stone off the floor and looking under it.

"We've got to find something!" the sorceress exclaimed, exasperated.

"Uh . . .ouma . . ." the paladin groaned still unconscious.

The amazon glided over to him and dropped to her knees beside him. "Please Scorpious hang on. Don't die, we need you."

The druid, who watched her, seemed to suddenly come to some realization. He snapped his fingers. "My God, why didn't I think of it sooner? I know, I can summon an oak spirit! That tree in the cemetery, I can summon its spirit!" The druid said something in druidic, my guess was an appeal to the tree. "Damerith, xer perata kiren zi tirimus . . ."

I saw something that looked like a transparent image of a tree flash before my eyes in mid-air. The holographic image massed slowly into a bright orange orb that had many finger-like rays streaking off of it. It's aura was the same bright orange glow, only it was rippling off in layers. The orb rotated on its axis toward us. To my amazement, it had a face. It had a very round, plump dimples, and a very long, rounded nose. It's eyes were perfectly circular. Besides being abnormally large, its eyes were a bright, but gentle orange. The tree spirit hovered over to the druid and started making strange clicking sounds from its thick, protruding lips.

The druid pointed to the huddled form of the paladin. There was more clicking, then the druid began to whistle loudly from his throat. It sounded like wind rustling througha treetop of rattling leaves. Now I understood. The druid was talking to trees . . .

"What's going on, Cloudyous," the assassin asked him eyeing the floating orb suspiciously.

The druid held up his hand to silence her, while the orb began making its way to the paladin's side. The assassin bared its path, with her katars across her body.

"I will not let it through until you tell me exactly what it's going to do," she said uncertainly.

The druid nodded. "I apologize. You're right. I would be defensive too if I didn't understand. I summoned the spirit of the oak tree because given a proper request politely, oak trees have been known to lend some of their enormous vitality to a druid and his companions. However since Scorpious needs it more, I'm going to ask the spirit to direct its aura toward Scorpious alone."

"Well that explains why, but how?" the amazon asked him.

"It will kiss him basically. Then he will gain the same aura as the tree. His life will be tied to the tree's, so as long as the tree doesn't die, which it most likely will not anytime soon, then Scorpious should be alright. Don't misunderstand me though, Scorpious' wound is severe, I doubt the tree spirit will be able to do little more than revive him enough to keep him with us and keep his immediate fate from death."

The assassin's facial expression reflected deep consideration and a hint of confusion, but she stepped out of the way. The oaken spirit made its way over to the paladin. It made a cooing sound, then touched the unmoving man's cheek with its finger-like rays.

"Cloudyous please ask it to aid Scorpious without delay," the amazon pleaded.

The druid regained a foot in reality, away from his thoughts. "Right. At once. Jaekera callkfy nira gennine," he said to the orb in a tone that implied he was asking a question.

The orb's call was like a cat's purring when it closed its eyes and literally kissed the paladin's cheek. The same orange glow that the orb carried rippled in waves onto the paladin's body and enveloped him, while the amazon knelt by his side, holding his languid body in her arms.

"Oh please mighty heaven let this work," I heard her plead silently.

The orb finished the transfer and its huge eyes twisted in pain. It clenched them tightly shut and then started to whimper like an injured dog. The druid's wolf whimpered too, and walked over to the oak spirit and tried to lick it. My attention turned back to the paladin whom had rolled over onto his side, groaning.

"Is it working?" The amazon asked anxiously.

The druid nodded and as he did, the paladin opened his eyes and regained consciousness.

"Scorpious! Are you alright?" the amazon asked him, half hugging him.

"Where am I?" he moaned as he tried to look around.

"You're in the rogue mausoleum," the amazon said softly.

The wounded paladin must have recognized her voice, because he slowly leaned his head back to get a better look at who was holding him. "Lady Chyemme?"

"I'm here, Scorpious," she said gently.

I saw him smile despite his own pain. He struggled to raise his arm, but he managed to place a hand on the amazon's cheek. "Don't worry about me. Thanks to everyone's quick actions I should be in good health until I get to Akara."

The blonde amazon put her hand over his. "Save your strength Scorpious. You'll need every ounce until we can make you completely well again," she replied gingerly guiding his hand to rest back beside his body.

Evidently, the sorceress thought it was an appropriate time for a question.

"Why did it do that?" she asked the druid.

"Do what?" he replied back uncertainly.

"Touch Scorpious' face before it kissed him?"

"Because it was testing me," the paladin answered for him.

The druid faced him. "How did you know that?"

The paladin smiled. "Although paladins do not worship nature, we still have a great respect for it. I learned a long time ago that God created nature, and that it is in no manner, evil. The oak spirit wouldn't have helped me if I was evil."

"With times like these it's hard to remember that, especially for non-druids. And to amswer your question, Vendra, Scorpious is right. An oak spirit must deem someone worthy before it will share its essence with them. Touching someone connects them briefly to your soul. They will determine from that connection what to think about someone," the druid explained.

I decided to put in my opinion, for in my mind, there was no way a tree that demonic looking, that diseased, could have remained pure in spirit. "But that tree _is_ _evil_. It's got dead rogues hanging all over it like Yule tree ornaments!" I pointed out with sarcasm.

The druid faced me, and then crisply snapped, "This tree is NOT evil! It has been used for evil by a creature it has no control over. That's one of the first things it said to me upon my summons. It has seen unbelievable evil, and it hates it. The poor tree has been traumatized, it cried for every noble rogue Blood Raven hung from its branches. It was only all too happy to help us!"

I snorted. "Then why does it look evil?"

The druid cringed. "It cannot decide what its outsides look like. Its heart is still in the right place. Blood Raven made it grow like that and turn black."

Speaking of the oak spirit, it was now looking at me. It started floating my way. I stuck a foot back. "Keep it away from me!" I growled, continuing to back up.

The druid sighed. "For some odd reason, your tone of voice told it what you said."

The assassin looked at me with an amused smile on her face. "Well Piricus, it seems you have seriously outspoken yourself this time. When a tree can understand you without its own language . . ."

"Tell it to stop druid! Now! Or I will have my skeleton tear it to pieces and send the paladin back to oblivion!" I commanded him. I had no desire for an oak tree to judge me.

"What's wrong Piricus? Are you afraid of what it might say? If you're not afraid to die then why would you be afraid to be judged? Because that is what will inevitably happen when you die. All souls are judged before heaven and before God," the paladin remarked to me.

"It's none of the damn tree's business who I am! Further more it's none of yours either!" I exclaimed incredulously.

"As much as he torment us, it still not right for us to torture him," the male mage said, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"Dir diem ist ena!" the druid called to the spirit.

Regardless of his call, the thing did not stop. I saw its finger-like rays reach for me, and before I could react, it touched my cheek. Being touched by the tree spirit felt like being hit by a ray of sunlight, warm and tingly. The worst in my opinion, came next. Within moments before my very eyes, I began seeing memories from my life flash before me. Rathma . . .

FLASH

I stood in a large, stone room. Five hundred torches lined the walls in their holsters, burning brightly with orange flames. The light they provided was dim, yet bright enough that I could see. There were many people all around me, all in the same uniform, unisex black billowing robes, embroidered with imagery of skulls, green poison rings, and flags that stood for the many different necromancer curses. In front of me stood a large throne carved out of obsidian imbued with the many sigils of the necromancers. Upon this throne were cushions of black satin.

Next to the throne stood two guards, tall and clad in midnight black onyx armor from head to toe. Their bassinets were adorned with two skulls on either side and a large, green emerald in the center. Their necks were guarded by their purely bone (skulls of course) shoulder guards. Their breastplates were embedded with the same design as their raven helms, and came down to their black leggings, which reached their thighs. Their boots were like mine, black leather in the make. They stood tall and proud carrying twin kwon-dowes crossed in front of the throne.

To the direct right of the throne was a large basin, of which the headpiece was a jade board with a crossing wand and dagger done in emerald. The edge was also jade, and on the rim were carved many indentations for bowls to rest. Some where already occupied with many faceted onyx bowls, filled with blood. The blood was an offering to the spirits of all necromancy. Within the basin itself was the elixir of emerald tears, poisoned water, which only true necromancers could drink from and live. The main part of an initiation of a necromancer to tell if they were truly of the spirit was to drink from the basin. If you got poisoned, you had obviously missed key parts in your instruction and were not ready to become one of the elite. The other half of the initiation was to go on the quest assigned to you. The large tray that protruded from the headpiece contained a gleaming silver knife encrusted with rubies in the skull-decorated hilt.

Directly in front of the throne were many wooden seats in a semicircle arrangement, with a large isle down the middle, where a black carpet with silver frays had been laid out. On the left side of the semicircle were the chairs of the new students and of the inexperienced necromancers. On the right were the seats that belonged to the more experienced and more talented necromancers, and the section where my reserved seat was. Strait to the left of the throne was a table that was clothed in silver, uncut linen. Five chairs sat behind this table, reserved for the five members of the necromantic council. Returning the memory to the room, its grandeur still amazed me. The room was at least 200 feet high and almost every square inch of the stone walls were adorned with tapestries depicting the victories of necromancers against various demons, against barbarians and assassins, and against paladins. There were even a few that displayed the aid Lord Rathma gave to the horadric mage, Tal Rasha. Reaching the ceiling, there were right large chandeliers hanging, each with a hundred candles. The room was even wider than it was tall. It was at least 500 feet across. The room was magnificent, even more magnificent though, was the fact that a space such as this, such as our entire city, existed under the jungle ground.

There was a sharp trilling of wooden reeds, and then glorious sound of bone horns. Everyone in the room dropped to one knee, as the clanking on armor and the marching of boots was heard. There was a still silence, and then the softer footsteps of someone could be heard along with the swishing of a robe. I did not look up from where the floor held my glance.

"RISE!" the sharp, crisp call rang out. I stood and bowed in harmony with the other necromancers around me to the man who had taken seat on the throne. He stood and then gestured to us with a wave of his hand.

"Sit," he said simply and softly, yet still with authority, nothing like what the yelling soilder had just done.

Everyone had a seat in his or her designated chair. The man on the throne who addressed us was about an inch taller than me at most, and his facial features were somewhat similar to mine. He had a very thin face with a pointed chin, nose, and slightly pointed ears. His eyes were the same as mine, highly set and emerald green . . .the fiercest eyes I had ever seen. They were the kind that demanded respect. The man was muscular, you could tell by the way his robe folded every time his arm moved in gesture to us. He was not, however, anywhere near as muscular as a barbarian. He was fairly thin, but not sickly so. The man wore an overlapping black robe of silk, which was laced like a corset in the front, and hung as loose as a dress would on a woman. The lacing continued the entire floor-length of the robe. The robe had been embroidered with silver in the form of the many necromancer curse flags on one side. On the other side of the lacing were purely white embroidered bones of every type going down the same way the curse flags did. The embroidery stopped about four inches from the bottom of the trailing robe, because on the hem, there had been sewn the many different symbols of the various poison spells available to the necromancers. Those runes lined the hem of the robe, and the rims of the sleeves as well. The man's boots were leather like mine, but unlike my boots, his were hard and had many silver clasps.

The most distinguishing feature however, was his pure, silky white hair topped with a crown of bone. The crown was like a circlet of bone, with upward, protruding bone spikes at regular intervals. Right in the middle was the largest ruby jewel I had ever laid eyes on. That wasn't all. The crown had other attributes to it than just its appearance. A wandering warrior had once attempted to kill him when he was teaching a few other necromancers and me. Every time the warrior had struck Lord Rathma's shield, the crown would glow, then grasp and pull what looked like a blood red ball from the warrior's body. Obviously the crown was life-stealing. It was also rumored to have once belonged to the legendary King Leoric of Tristram. . . .

Lord Rathma stood before us, the founder of our order. Lord Rathma was supposed to have mastered the secret of prolonged life, for it was another rumor that he was at least 500 years old. . . .the very thought of a life that long scared me. I mean how could one man live with five lifetimes of pain? Five lifetimes of turmoil and mistrust among mortal men? Then again, the power of evading death intrigued me. It was a man close to the power of a god who could avoid death purposely for so long.

"Fellow necromancers, students, and wise members of our esteemed council, we have called this grand celebration today to appreciate and bring recognition to a few worthy souls who have done their clan a great service through their own sacrifices. I will call you, whom you may be, and when I do please come forth to receive your rewards. We will begin first with the students who have newly mastered their bone skills and summons . . . ."

Lord Rathma had his right hand guard read off several names, brethren, whom I had trained with under Lord Rathma, and whom I had rapidly surpassed in skill. None were address by their last name. That was an honor reserved for the council and the king. My own robe displayed the same design as Lord Rathma's with every sigil of a necromancer. My training had been completed.

Each of the people who had been announced had shyly bowed before Lord Rathma, before accepting the newly conjured etchings on their robes. Next Lord Rathma's guard . . .what was his name again? Oh, I remembered. His name was Nidas. I remembered him from his teaching sessions on melee. Nidas read the names of the students that had newly mastered poison, and after them came the ones who mastered the art of necromantic curses. All in all, the ceremony had proceeded over an hour.

After all of these petty achievements I expected we would be released, but then Lord Rathma had made an unexpected announcement. He glanced to the council, whom nodded to him.

"Before we are dismissed, I missed to make one more, yet certainly not least important announcement. The council and myself wish to recognize the completion of an initiation quest of a certain necromancer as complete. Piricus, please rise."

I remembered being very embarrassed that I had been made to stand before an assembly, and very much peeved at Lord Rathma for making me acknowledge myself. I did not delay however, and strode to Lord Rathma's side. There I knelt, much like a paladin does before his God. Lord Rathma placed his smooth, pale hand on my shoulder, then quietly spoke again.

"Arise."

I stood and then put myself on the King's left side as he called to the whole assembly what I had done.

"The council and myself, as before mentioned wish to thank and congratulate Piricus for his completion of initiation. And what he has done is no small task. As you all may recall, we have been under a subliminal attack from the Shadow Warrior Clan. Otherwise known to some of you as the highest and most skillful branch of the assassin clan . . . ."

There was mass whispering before Lord Rathma called for silence. "Piricus, showing the skill that he has, was chosen to rid us of those wandering murderers for his initiation. I saw him myself, through my viewing glass, single-handedly overcome seven of the Shadow Warriors sent here to find and destroy us in a marvelous and astonishing display of the very finest skills our arcane offers. And for his efforts and for saving our very lives, we award him position of Captain of the Guard and my royal right hand."

Now there was mass commotion. Then silence again. The chief member of our council stood, the oldest aside from Lord Rathma, named Erion.

"Your highness if we may. The council feels that Piricus is indeed worthy of such high honors, and in being so, we ask of him his first task."

Lord Rathma looked to me, and I remembered looking away. Lord Rathma had always been an inspiration to me and the only person I ever held respect for. There was no way I could ever have looked him in the eyes.

"Captain Piricus are you ready to assume your duties?" he asked me.

"Yes, majesty. Anything the council would ask," I had mumbled like a shy fool.

Erion continued, "Well then, we as the council assign you to a trading voyage across the sea in Lut Gholein to retrieve supplies from the mage Drognan. These are much needed and with any luck, should help us to build a permanent shadow ward around our home. It will be damn near impossible for the agents of the shadow clan to detect. As such, this mission has been given our highest priority."

I nodded but was severely disappointed. Captain of the Guard and I was still an errand child to them . . . Had they not seen anything of how much better I was capable of? As Captain on the Guard I should have been leading Rathma's soldiers into Zakarum to destroy the paladins that opposed us so and threatened us with their very existence. I suppose it showed in my face, because after the gathering had been dismissed, Lord Rathma approached me. He knelt down and caught my eyes. He demanded my attention and my respect with just that one glance. I seemed mesmerized because I could not look away.

"Captain Piricus, you must forgive the council for their petty assignment, but in all honesty they are--"

"--testing me. Again," I finished for him, trying not to sound like a know-it-all jackass to my king.

Lord Rathma smiled at me with his white smile. "I always knew you would be clever and a damn good necromancer too. Listen to me Captain Piricus, this is what I have seen in my meditations for you."

I looked startled and felt it too. The Lord of Necromancers had seen _me_ in one of his visions. "My Lord, surely I am not that important in the scheme of things?"

Lord Rathma had chuckled. "Ah Piricus, you doubt in yourself. But nonetheless, your trials on this voyage will prove to be much more than you ever expected them to be, and I guarantee you, my Captain, that in the grand outlook, you will gain more than just wands and robes . . . . For you are of the true blood. I have also foreseen some unfortunate turn of events . . . Your journey will be delayed . . . . So do not fear that we will forget you. We shall wait for your return, Captain. But I have already said too much, and I must take my leave now."

At that time I simply did not understand how a trading trip could bring me into so much trouble.

FLASH

I was in melee poison dagger training with Nidas in the main temple courtyard. I had my hilt grasped tightly in my hand, as I did an inverted roof-block to prevent another student's dagger from piercing and poisoning me. I easily gained the advantage and with leverage pushed him away onto his ass. Nidas, in his ebony helmet came over. He had always been jealous of my abilities and harped at me every chance he got.

"Piricus, I said block him, not take him out! And it was with a regular parry not an inverted roof-block."

I rolled my eyes. "You'll have to forgive me. I just found my method of blocking that strike much more effective. In your method, look how the point of the kris is edging past the flat of the other blade. If you make one wrong movement, you'll stab yourself with the piercing end of the poison dagger in your now wide-open stomach."

He had insisted that his way was better, but in the end we had a contest, man-to-man. He thrust his poisoned dagger at me, and quite frankly made no attempt to be slow in training style. He was trying to kill me or at least get me poisoned badly enough so that I threw up my intestines on the spot.

I blocked with my own technique, and his dagger's end was now pointed away from me in addition to the effective lock I had put it into. To further his frustration, he tried to kick me in the stomach, which I had parried with my elbow. He tried his block and I ended up stabbing him and kicking him before he dropped his weapon in pain.

Lord Rathma had a nice chat with me about not trying to kill the guards, especially my instructors, even though he did think my way was better and that Nidas was being slightly asinine . . . .

FLASH

I was on a large ship. It was storming and water was going everywhere, making the wooden deck slippery. Men were yelling in horror, lightening was flashing. A large, thick and scaly tail came whipping out of the water and crashed right through the mast, bringing it down through the starboard bow of the ship. A loud boom of thunder rang through the air. Seawater was quickly engulfing us under. I heard a sailor yell,

"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! RIVER DEMONS! THEY'VE CRASHED THOUGH THE HULL! TYREAL SAVE US! MEPHISTO'S WRATH HAS BEFALLEN US!"

The Lord of Hatred had not been seen or heard of since Horadric times, surely this occurrence could not be any doing of his? River demons out this far at sea? It made no sense . . . . Another loud roll of thunder rang out and then a strike of pure lightening hit the ship. Despite the saltwater, the ship erupted into fire . . . .it spread throughout the ship in a matter of minutes. I had been backed into the stern, and was hearing screams of anguish and smelling burning flesh, as the crewmembers caught on fire and jumped into the water, only to be eaten by the waiting snake-like river demons below.

I decided that my only way out of this was the water. I conjured a bone shield and then jumped in. I felt a river demon crunch down upon it with needle-like teeth, but the shield held. I began swimming under the raging current, but was flanked by three river demons, whom battered my shield so roughly I hit the edges and passed out into blackness. . . .

FLASH

Moonlight on the deck of another ship . . .a ferry this time. The night was almost pitch black as I saw the ferryman clothed in goatskin plunge his paddle into the water, forcibly moving the blonde amazon girl and me along the river on his raft-like ferry. I was frustrated because I had just earned a tag-along for my journey. . . I had threatened her with everything under the sun for her annoying actions. Having failed to scare her off she had then asked me, with her blue eyes gleaming,

"What is your name? If I'm going to travel with you for a long period of time, I would prefer to address you by a name other than your class . . . ."

I had sighed with my furry fading . . .for some odd reason she calmed me with the look in her eyes . . . .

"My name is Piricus, amazon, it's Piricus."

FLASH

The tree spirit pulled more memories from my life, but these flashed by even quicker. Kurast . . .the amazon isles . . .my first blood golem . . .the assassins I murdered . . . Sailing in general . . .wand training . . . .wandering through the rainforest . . .the rogue camp . . .Akara . . .the paladin . . .the assassin who would try to kill me in the end . . .and the amazon. Most strikingly was the tender moment she had just shared with the paladin not that long ago. Perhaps most shocking off all, was that I cared, or at least I thought I did. . . .if not then why the hell did I have a feeling of disgust with that whole scenario?

FLASH

"GET OFF!" I thundered so loudly that the walls of the mausoleum actually rattled for a second. I balled my fist up and punched the spirit once I could see clearly. My hand went right through it, and was taken over by a burning sensation. I immediately withdrew it because of the pain and thank Trag Oul that the spirit let go before hurrying to hide behind the druid, making a dolphin-like echo.

That thing made me feel feelings and emotions that had been buried for a while. I did not like the feeling of them being stirred up again, especially not all at once like that. The Oak Spirit swerved around the edge of the druid's back, peaking around at me.

I folded my arms. "So it thinks I'm evil. Big surprise," I said with annoyance and no attempt to hide it.

The druid began clicking away, with the spirit clicking back. When they had finished the druid first looked at the spirit, then looked at me.

"It's afraid of you, because you are neither good, nor evil, but you will possess great power either way. You are on a knife's edge, Piricus . . . .The spirit also says that you are hiding a great deal of things, but it for some reason it will not divulge them," the druid trailed off, his gaze meeting mine.

Everyone was quiet now, even the ever-nagging paladin. He too glared at me, with righteousness gleaming in his eyes.

"Well, teatime's over. Let's get back to the damn search, before I die of disgust. Although I have no clue why I cam helping you people save someone I absolutely despise," I growled, staring so intently at the paladin I might have very well burned a hole in his armor.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Piricus? I thought necromancers cherish mausoleums?" The paladin said to me plainly, though the way in which he said it might as well have been an insult.

I growled. I wasn't the one lying on the ground weaker than an old nanny trying to fight a titan.

"And don't paladins cherish a moment of silence, because I was sure enjoying yours!" I retorted craftily.

"Typical. Don't feel bad Scorpious, all necromancers are that way. Arrogant and corrupt," the assassin said, glowering at me.

"Look who knows so much," was all I said to her, though I wanted to inform her of how one day I would relish to cut out her tongue and rip away her vocal chords. The amazon stepped in.

"That's enough! Even you, Maria, have now been lowered to delivering verbal blows? Let's settle this later, right now we need to get Scorpious treatment and then finish off Blood Raven. I can sure as hell guarantee that she's not going to kill herself anytime soon." She paused as if wanting our support. The barbarian gave her his.

"Yur right,Chyemme. We aren't gonna get nothin dun if we linger round here. What do we do?" he asked.

The amazon smiled at him. "At least Alminus agrees with me. I know that sometimes rogues would hide valuables in ordinary wine barrels during transit. If we find some we should open them, but be aware that the rogues are nobody's fools. They were known to trap some of their barrels too," she explained.

"Please, everyone be careful. If anything happens to any of you for my sake, I'll never be able to live with that," the paladin said with remorse.

"Give it a rest, paladin. If it will make you feel better, know that I have no intention of taking any sort of blow for you, or for anyone else here for that matter, but most especially _you_," I snapped feeling utterly bored to tears with this useless, petty talk. In case they hadn't noticed, I was not the type of person who greatly cared for their sappy, epic words.

The warrior frowned at me. "Please, don't tell us something we already know. Hearing you talk pains my ears. You may not care for Scorpious' life, but the rest of us do. And I vow before God that if your selfishness or apathy results in Scorpious' death, I will hunt you down no matter where you go, and settle up with you right then and there!"

I snorted, trying to contain my laughter. "Oh warrior, if you can't even defend yourself against wild skeletons, I assure you, mine will be eating you for a meal inside of ten seconds! My skeletons are about four times as strong as anything Blood Raven could conjure. Want a demonstration" I said with as much malice as I felt.

Who was this fool, to challenge the life of a necromancer? He was, quite obviously, very arrogant if he thought all I could conjure were skeletons and shields! On no, there were many spells, summons, and curses that I had not yet displayed for my fighting companions. I snapped my fingers and my skeleton trotted to my side, bone sword at the ready.

"NOT HERE!" the amazon yelled out.

She stood up and straitened out to her full height. Her blue eyes glistened with hellfire as her gaze seemed to pierce not only through us, but directly behind us. She stepped away from the paladin's side. She grabbed a silver javelin and began walking toward me. Her shapely body shone with disgust. I felt my body tense and as fast as a bolt of lightening, a silver javelin embedded itself right between me and the chestnut-haired warrior into the head of a . . . .skeleton? I thought briefly that it might have been my skeleton, but as it dropped dead, the yellowish tone of the bone was far from the white color of the skeleton at my side. The skeleton was not the only source of the amazon's anger, nor was it the only recipient.

"YOU TWO ARE IDOITS! WHILE YOU ARE SHOWING HATRED FOR EACH OTHER, THE UNDEAD ARE SNEAKING UP BEHIND YOU WITH TWO KNIVES ABOUT TO STAB YOU BOTH IN THE HEADS!"

I looked down and the warrior did too. Indeed, the undead rogue had a long dirk in each literally bony hand. The warrior and I both looked at the amazon, whom in turn walked between us and plucked her reusable shimmering javelin from the shattered skull and added it back to the bundle strapped to her back.

I couldn't believe that I allowed myself to get so distracted by the others that I completely forgot about the undead energy level in the room! The druid's attention turned towards the Oak Spirit.

"Before we move on, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the tree spirit and Scorpious are bonded now. If anything hurts or kills the spirit, the aura holding Scorpious alive will vanish. So no one," he hissed at me, "do anything foolish."

"Then I will stand beside it. Chyemme, we need you and your Inner Sight up front," the assassin volunteered.

The amazon sighed reluctantly. "I trust in your judgment, Maria." Without another word, we proceeded forward, with the barbarian dragging the paladin's cot.

"AH!" I heard someone shout, clearly startled.

I snapped my head around just as quickly as the rest to catch a glimpse of the skeleton rogue "Diana" wrap her undead, bony hand around the druid's ankle. The druid managed to kick "Diana" at such an angle with an inside kick that he severed her hand. He then in turn brought down the butt of his club hard on top of her skull. There was a popping sound as the wooden club caved in the old and feeble cranium.

The spirits of the dead began to rapidly move around the room and then all of the defiled graves produced their inhabitants, whom oddly enough had been equipped in their final resting places with bows. To our dismay, they also had been buried with arrows. Honestly, who in the name of Trag Oul wasted good ammunition by burying it with the dead that had no use for them at all? I could understand being buried with a cherished weapon, but arrows?

"They're gonna shoot arrows!" the barbarian bellowed and like the idiot he was, he charged back into the infested room, axe overhead.

The big Lutz was right about one thing. A volley of arrows came flying our way, launched by the undead rogues and their age-old bows. I dived and did a roll of the floor, avoiding the arrows that landed in a patch behind me. By that time, the sorcerer and sorceress were already dealing with the problem.

I noticed the air around their exposed palms begin to crystallize into what looked like enlarged snowflakes. They pulled their hands back to the sides of their bodies, accumulating a white mist behind their snowflake crystals. Shoving their hands forward again, they chucked their crystals into the air, propelled by the swirling ivory mist. The crystals and the mist fused together, forming a bolt of solid ice that spiraled through the air and settled themselves into the skulls of our skeletal attackers. They dropped, but four more remained.

By this time the barbarian had reached the closest skeleton to him and cleaved it strait down the middle. Chips went everywhere. I saw another barrage of arrows buzzing our way, but not aligned with me. The assassin stepped into their path to protect the spirit. She swiftly cut two in half at once with her claw class weapons, then blocked the last by batting it away with an inside block.

I almost laughed when the warrior charged to assist the barbarian. I mean, didn't he learn his lesson the first few times? Much to my surprise he had already put the fear behind him, or if he was afraid it didn't show, because he fiercely did a spinning slash that parted the lower spine of the undead menace. The upper half of the rogue's corpse crawled along the floor until the warrior stomped on the back of its skull, breaking it. Only one more remained.

I concentrated upon the death energies of all that had ever been buried in this mausoleum. Instantaneously, my mind summoned those energies and they started fanning out in mushroom shaped segments in a strait line, slightly separated from each other. They glowed brilliantly with a plasmic sky blue outer rim and a white inner circle. Once I had established this first step, I called the bone chips, I called the bone chips and remnants of the skeleton nearest me to pass through my course of semi-spheres on the way to my hand. The chips revolved around each other, then melded into a long, smooth bone shaft. The very tip of the spear flattened out and pulsated brightly with bluish light. A razor-sharp triangle of bone formed at the end, making the spearhead. We the called this a bone spear, a great skill of necromancy, the Talon of Trag Oul. The whole spear was suspended mid-air, with the butt but a few centimeters from my open palm. I bent my pointer finger back, toward myself, and the middle of my bone spear flew backwards ideally into my grip.

I hurled the bone spear through the air and it started to gain speed. The blue rings around the spear began rippling around the shaft in a flare of energy, making the spear temporarily bright like the sun. Since my bone spear was both magical and physical, it only stopped moving after it had embedded itself into the wall behind my opponent, having gone strait through it. It dropped lifeless to the ground. The spirit energy in the room became calm again. The amazon, whom had watched this display, grinned at me.

"I didn't know necromancers were spear throwers."

I smirked. "One of the many talents you have yet to see."

Four perfectly good corpses now lie on the floor. Why let them go to waste? I allowed my mind to wander the eternal spirit realm . . . .so many souls lie there, and I could choose four, four spirits to occupy the bodies of these creatures and serve me. I found four ideal ones and after commanding their essences to return to the mortal realm, I directed each into their own corpse and encased them there. This was the way necromancers animated living bone. The undead rose once more and walked to my side to join their already existing brother-in-arms.

"We're in a mausoleum of death and the undead, do you really think more of that is necessary?" the assassin mumbled.

We finally proceeded into the next chamber. It too was the same ancient wood and stone architecture. The room was actually quite plain, for it wielded only two already empty ( skeleton and all) defiled graves and a collection of rotting, wood casks that obstructed the next doorway.

"Are those the barrels you wer tellin' us bout?" the barbarian asked the amazon, whom merely nodded in reply.

The sorceress eyed them untrustingly. "Let's just move them aside . . . ." she cautioned us.

The barbarian shrugged, then walked to the first barrel and wrapped his arms astride the middle. He lifted it up effortlessly, although such objects easily weighed 200 pounds each. The assassin seemed to be examining it from her current position at the paladin's side. I didn't see why. Her deep brown, vengeful eyes continued to scan every bare inch.

"ALMINUS! GET RID OF THAT IMMEDIATELY!" She barked at once, causing him to look at her in confusion. I heard it too now that I was listening for it . . .the faint clicking noise, like the turning of metal gears.

"If ya say so," the barbarian remarked simply. He dispatched the object into the far front wall, opposite of us. No sooner had he thrown it, the assassin cringed and draped herself over the paladin's body. Moments later the barrel collided with the wall and exploded upon impact. Wooden splinters flew in all directions. My five skeletons stepped instinctively in front of me and touched their shields together as they stood side by side. Their five shields formed an interlocking bone plate wall in front of me, with their own bodies behind the shields as well. The two caster magi enhanced the air around them to freezing temperature, forming a blizzard aura around their bodies. An admirable attempt in my opinion, but who needed a frost shield when you had one of bone?

We all managed to block the flying shards somehow, because after the flying missiles had reflected harmlessly off my skeleton's shields, I surveyed our party. There was not a single drop of blood anywhere; the assassin had caught the barbarian just in the neck of time. I was beginning to think fortune favored the foolish in the land of rogues . . . .

After that annoyance, we had the assassin check the rest of the barrels. None were trapped, so we began kicking and slashing the wooden obstacles apart. We cleared our obstructed path only to be rewarded with a small mana potion and a chipped skull. The sorcerer took the potion. No one even bothered with the skull, for in their ignorant eyes the skull was a demented piece of junk. To me, however, the skull was equivalent to their glistening precious gems and equally as powerful. When used properly, skulls were able to enhance armor and weapons. If nothing else, they were suitable décor for a necromancer's attire and struck fear into the hearts of the weak and cowardly.

The rest of our search was somewhat uneventful. All in all, we came up with twenty gold apiece, four mana potions (one of which I received), a scroll of identify, a strange oval ring, a cracked scimitar, a small boot dagger, and a tattered red cloak. We used the scroll on the ring. It read,

_Ring of Greed_

_You will find your fortunes improving_

The party decided to give the ring to the warrior. Along the way we had also dispatched a few random skeletons and even a few stray hungry dead from Blood Raven's horde. My unit of minions now contained ten skeletal warriors.

"Ugh! This is utterly useless! We've been searching for almost an half an hour now! Let's face it we'll never find anything!" the sorceress growled as she stomped hard on the cracking wood floor.

"That's real helpful," I said snidely, referring to her behavior.

"SHUT UP PIRICUS!" she shouted in fury, which just made me laugh.

"You are so easy to infuriate, it's a wonder you haven't been corrupted yet, sorceress. Well, you might end up like her one day, with your temper and all . . . " I made a slight head gesture to the dead and decaying rogue tied onto a charred stake behind her.

Everyone but me had been too exhausted to notice the several dead bodies all over the room . . . . Most had dried blood painting their carcasses and spongy, worm-eaten entrails hanging out of skinless cavities. There skin was visible only in a few places. Their muscles reflected the violent nature of their death, because they were tense and twisted into silent screams of agony, petrifying the bones they were still intertwined with.

"Wha . . .AHHHH!" the tan-skinned sorceress screeched, as she finally acknowledged what I had seen behind her.

"My God, there are more of them over here!" the warrior commented as he brought his torchlight over to an impaled rogue, whose right eye was hanging out of the socket. Dead and mutilated bodies were all around us . . . . We were, in fact, standing in front of several bodies on the ground . . .

"Oh my God!" the sorceress was panting to herself, close to hyperventilating, as she caught sight of this demented, bloody graveyard on every side of her.

The assassin stiffened, putting aside he apparent shock. "Search them. Even the ones on the floor. We need potions and some of them might have died with one still on them," she said quietly.

"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" the sorceress shouted in repugnantly.

I was beginning to get very, very annoyed with this woman's skittishness and her whining, bitching testimony. I stared at her and said in a very dangerous, low voice,

"Shut up you jester's fool! Your incessant noise is going to get us all killed!"

She hissed at me and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could whine furthermore, I backhanded her so hard across the face that she fell over sideways.

The male mage glared at me hatefully, before helping her up. It looked like he was strongly debating on whether or not he was going to attack me. "You not dare do that again!" he breathed loudly, through gritted teeth, with his large, dark fists clenched at his sides.

I smiled. "Well, she's quiet now, is she not?"

This caused him to yell vehemently at me, some in his broken common tongue, and some in his native language, what ever that was, because he spoke that fluently without any pauses. Lightening began to crackle around his body. The amazon girl began pleading, then shouting for us to stop. The barbarian tried to back her up, making a stupid off comment about mages, which in turn the druid took offense to. Soon, all of our party, save the wounded paladin, was bickering, criticizing, and downsizing the others.

"And you Piricus, aren't these women your type? Necrophilia must be a common practice among undesirable necromancers!" the warrior shot at me.

Never in all of my time had anyone ever dared say something that insulting to me . . . The world must have been losing its fear of a necromancer's terrifying powers. I guess it would be a quest for me to re-instill the fear into this warrior. I countered his insult with one of my own.

"Oh yes warrior, well at least they are women. I don't have to find my satisfaction among other witless men," I rebounded and looked over at the barbarian.

The short man caught my gaze and his face twisted into pure rage. "Why you pompous, hot-winded, good for nothing . . . ." he didn't finish his sentence, because I cut him off.

"I believe I should show you why insulting a necromancer is a very grave mistake indeed. You want a fight, come and get it." I balled my fists and filled them with poisonous energy. I reopened them slowly, letting the energies permeate along my arms. My eerie green light was now ten times greater than all the torches in the room. I jumped into the air and pulled my casting arm back. I was going to rip this fool apart with my own bare hands and enjoy it.

Swish . . .CLANG . . .CRACK . . . .BURREMPPP . . .

The druid whirled around immediately. So did the rest of us, even myself. I flipped a round-off in mid-air to face his direction. There was a trail of what appeared to be metallic, yellow blood . . . .

"SCORPIOUS!" the assassin and the amazon yelled together and ran to the paladin's side. Something had indeed occurred. The holy man's life aura was fading again, as had the oaken aura . . . . .


	8. Chapter 8

-1Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to finish, but I love writing long chapters and I've been trying to limit them to about fifteen pages or so to make reading more enjoyable. So Blood Raven was probably one of the hardest quests for me when I first started playing the game and didn't know completely what I was doing . . . .Anyway, I have a reason for making her so tough, but I'm not telling P

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2. The only thing I own are my own character names. Everything else is copyright Blizzard entertainment.

Tears of the Archer

Piricus

The druid ran along the metallic trail and found the tree spirit in the corner of the room whimpering like an injured puppy. I had a long slash upon its side. Strange, I thought to myself, that something so ethereal could be so mortal. . . .

"What in hell?" I remarked as soon as another "CRACK" reached my ears from behind me. I turned to my skeletons. My very rear skeleton was barely visible through the shadows, but I saw that it had locked it's bone sword on the blade of another's. I saw the yellowish bone tint of a risen rogue. Several more appeared within the shadows and flanked us from the left.

Suddenly, pain ran up my left thigh. I clutched at my leg to discover that my hand was saturated in my own blood. A skeletal rogue had cut into my leg from behind. I executed a back kick with my other leg, more on instinct rather than intellect. My attacker flew sideways into the nearby right wall and fell apart. Two more rushed me, but were met by my own skeletons. It took my skeletons no more than two hits each to dispatch their opponents.

Everyone else had also been caught by surprise. The warrior was fending off one undead of his own. The barbarian had wasted no time in dispatching four more back to the realm of spirits with his axe. The two magi were blasting ice spires and flame jets in a 180 degree semi-circle, protecting themselves with their backs against the far left wall. The most zealous of all however, were the amazon and the assassin. Both were infuriated to the point of blood lust, yelling at the top of their lungs, and fighting powerfully. There spirit energies at the moment were unparalleled.

"ZI!" The amazon cried as she did a flying side kick into the rib cage of a skeleton to her right and pierced it through the skull with her already equipped short spear. Another charged her, but was immediately stabbed in the ribs also as she turned her body from the waist into its direction. The girl began to move faster than normal eyes could register. However, since I was a necromancer I was even able to see spirit movement so she was still visible to me. She whipped her whole body around ninety degrees to meet another skeleton with the tip of her spear. She thrust the tip into another bone in the same skeleton, then pulled it out again, jabbing swiftly and repetitively within seconds.

The assassin also had her body flared for fighting. She sliced cleanly through a skeleton's skull, then pivoted on her rear leg to cut off the head of one that was approaching from behind. I saw the same orange glow around her again that I had seen her with when she lit our torches. It was then, as I observed her more closely, that I realized she wasn't using any type of fire energy, no type of elemental energy like the mages, but instead she utilized pyrokintetic energies. The fire energies had to be generating from her mind moving the air to the friction of her fists. So as observations concluded, I was definitely dealing with an upper-class bounty hunter bitch, only the shadow order's very best learned to master their minds in such a manner, and it took an almost insane amount of discipline, or so I'd heard.

With every strike she made, her fiery glow would grow more and more immense, until at last it out -lighted everything in the room like a secondary sun. Her aura was now visible to everyone, even those without the third sight. Her arms shimmered most brightly, along with her fists, which had burst into flame that burned with corporal form, yet it hurt her not.

Three skeletal undead had encircled her and were closing in on her. She leapt into the air and tucked into a ball. When she spiraled backwards, she was behind her outermost attacker. The other two skeletons seemed to be at least somewhat intelligent because they turned around to face her in their cracking, slinky walk. The assassin did not hesitate. Instead, she brought both of her claw class weapons up to her head, and with a slamming double reverse punch, transferred all the flame from her hands onto the skeleton's body. With tremendous strength, she made an "X" with her double katars and then slammed the creature full in the front as she uncrossed them, sending the flaming corpse smacking into the other two, causing all three to land against the back wall. All three were dead as the flames died.

"What'da ya call that?" the barbarian asked her from where he had been observing her as well out of his peripheral vision.

"Dragon Claw," she answered simply, but with a grin.

I heard a buzzing sound, the crackling of lightening, then a sword clang followed by a crumbling noise. When I looked over to the sorceress and sorcerer, I neither saw any lightening, nor felt any on their auras or skins . . . . I looked around myself carefully, checking every square inch of my surroundings. My sight suddenly registered a pile of large, purely white bones on the floor to my left. Atop the pile lay a bone sword . . . .which meant one of my skeletons had been killed. I scanned the scene even further, scrutinizing every shadow, every dark spot. I found the culprit inches away. It was a strange, mutated skeleton, teal in color. It stood next to the heap with balls of lightening in its clenched fists.

"Another unique monster?" I mumbled to myself. Especially down here . . .

I also noticed that I was the only one who seemed to have spotted the creature. Was it me, or was everyone else in the company too blind to notice the big, teal skeleton sauntering towards the unguarded, wounded paladin? The creature pulled back its arm to launch another lightening strike. I was going to watch that infernal holy man die, perhaps it wouldn't be all that bad . . . .but then again, if I let him die now, I could not have the pleasure of ripping his beating heart out later. Revenge on his kind, I had vowed, would be mine. If I never stopped the creature, how would I be able to prove that my power was superior t the paladin's in every way? I would never know . . . . He could not die here. If anyone killed that fool of a man, it was going to be me.

I was too far away to reach the paladin in time, so I called out, "Watch yourself paladin, or your silence may be eternal!"

Even though the paladin was unconscious and could not hear me, just as I suspected, my call had roused the attention of the others. Within nanoseconds, the assassin dove strait for the monster and tackled it, rolling into the shadows. Chain lightening balls zapped through the air. I felt the heat of one white-hot ball as it blazed past my side. I continued to watch the off target lightening ball until it hit the wall behind me and burnt out. The room became dully lit once more and there was no sign or noise from the assassin.

Moments later, she came limping out of the shadows, dragging her severely burned right leg behind her. She said nothing to us, only winced in pain. I heard a scuffling sound, but the mage was already on his feet. The assassin had just made it back into the edge of our line of view when a grinning teal skeleton appeared behind her with its bony hands ready to bash her over the head. The crackling of lightening was heard and a white blur was seen. CRACK.

The assassin turned around as quickly as she was able. The sorcerer bashed the undead irritant over the head with his short staff, dropping it to the floor. Only wisps of smoke were moving over the corpse.

"You alright, Lady Maria?" he asked her in his deep voice as he caught her arm when she stumbled forward. She groaned quietly in pain.

"I'm fine," she said bluntly, although not ungratefully.

The sorcerer handed the assassin to the barbarian to support, then knelt down amidst the bones of the monster and picked up a small tablet.

"What is it?" the druid asked as he resurfaced from the shadows carrying the bleeding tree spirit in his arms like a child.

"I do not know. It look like some kind of writing rock. A charm maybe? I will examine later," he said simply, and put the slab into his pocket.

The warrior scowled, though more at the situation than at any one of us. "Great! Scorpious is still dying, the tree spirit is wounded, and now so are Piricus and Maria! And still we find nothing!" He kicked the floor in frustration.

The sorceress sighed. "What do we do now?" she asked, as if giving up.

The amazon had made her way back to the paladin's side in a flash, making me scowl. What was it about that man that drew her to him? She looked near tears. Had she just now realized that the paladin was in all likelihood, going to die? There was utter silence in the moments that followed. No one seemed to have a plan to get the party out of the situation. Then the most unlikely of people, the gargantuan barbarian spoke up.

"Hey, we've in in ough spots before. This ain't nothing new. We of the Outsteppes pride urselves on survival in harsh places. Now, I ain't no expert, but I can promise this, I'm gonna give everything I've got to get us outta this!"

The giant man walked over to the corpse of a dead rogue and began sifting through her entrails. Even to me that was disgusting . . . .As the barbarian checked the corpses and went on to the next, I began raising them to serve as my own skeletal minions. I raised three more warriors and the unique I raised as an undead mage, with lightening power, of course. This roused sore looks from my companions against me, but it was fleeting.

"Search the room and spread out. It's our last chance," the druid called.

We began fanning out in the room, searching high and low, with me like the assassin trying to ignore the pain in my leg. I searched in vain through the pouches and clothing remnants of the rogues. The bodies had been so charred, they were just a little shy of total cremation. A few however, had not been burned at the stake and the barbarian was busy searching their bodies.

"LOOK AT THIS!" the sorceress shouted, causing everyone to ready their weapons, preparing for her to have encountered some new terror. I, myself, was especially surprised to see the large, gleaming, and golden chest that the sorceress was hunched over. The sorceress was gawking.

The warrior was the first to her side. "By all wonders!" he exclaimed, "Every inch of the damned thing is made of pure gold! Even the hinges!"

When I received a closer look at the box, I allowed myself to blink. It was indeed solid gold, with ancient Celtic engravings upon it.

"Well, what'r ya waitin' for?" the barbarian blurted, walking up to us with his bloody, filthy hands. He looked down when he stepped on a decaying arm with a loud "SNAP".

"Bly me!" he bellowed as he bent down to the corpse. He plopped over the liver and revealed a healing potion.

"Oh my God Alminus, is that really a potion?" the sorceress almost shouted.

He dumbly nodded and held the messy, but tightly sealed glass potion vial in his large palm. The barbarian handed the jar to the assassin.

"Oh thank God!" she sighed with relief. Within mere moments the potion had been cleaned off and administered to the paladin. The holy man quickly regained vitality, even as the potion slid down his throat, healing his dying life spirit.

"Sweet Lord . . .did I die . . .for a few moments?" the paladin said when he opened his eyes. He looked at us wildly from the ground. The amazon girl breathed a sigh of relief as well and then shook her head to answer him.

"Luck has saved you again, paladin!" I called to him in utter amazement at what he had just pulled through. Good. He would not be a piece of pie to destroy. I loved challenges . . . .

The paladin looked to the sky, ignoring me, and gave a nod of reverence. Within minutes the paladin was able to stand on his own two feet again with the amazon's support. When he let go of her, he walked like the newly revived man he was into the middle of the circle the group had formed around him.

"So my friends, what did I miss?" he asked looking around.

The assassin said not a word, but pointed to the golden chest.

"Is it safe?" he asked her, as she scanned it over.

"I think so," she replied carefully. The paladin did not falter, but walked directly to the box and undid the latch. A burst of force caught him by surprise, as a heap of objects issued forth like a wave over the edge of the chest and landed with a clang on the ground. Gold dotted the old stone floor, along with several magically enhanced items, which we knew not what they were as of yet. The items included a cross bow made of ash wood, a short sword, an axe, a chipped diamond, ruby, sapphire, an emerald, and a flawlessly preserved head in a clear glass jar. What a fortunate turn of events for me.

"Amazing!" the druid exclaimed and picked up four healing potions, which in our curiosity we had failed to notice. He tossed one to the assassin, one to me, and gave one to the Oak Spirit.

"Purr . . ." the spirit cooed in in affection and began glowing again. I saw a familiar image and then felt more enduring. I, and the rest of this demon hunting group, now shared the oaken spirit's glow.

With all life threats gone, the group now began dividing the treasure. Each adventurer gained thirty gold pieces. The crossbow undoubtedly went to the amazon and the sword went ot the warrior. The paladin took the diamond, the sorceress took the ruby, the sorcerer took the emerald, the assassin took the sapphire, the barbarian took the axe, and I took the preserved head.

"Why would you want a preserved head? The sorceress asked in horror as she examined the well-made strong glass bottle with contained the ancient head encased in preservatives.

"A necromancer's best shield is another's head," I informed her, "sometimes literally," I continued.

The sorceress cringed. "That's just plain creepy." With that, we turned to leave.

"Now to finish Blood Raven," the druid said quietly, bringing us all back to the unpleasant task at hand.

When the paladin gave a nod we began filing out of the room, with the amazon in the rear. We were brought to a halt, yet again, by a sudden shout from her.

"OH BY ZERAE! WAIT! WAIT!THIS ROGUE IS STILL ALIVE!"

The druid whom had been in front of her, turned abruptly and examined the rogue the amazon was pointing to. He stuck his face close to the rouge's skeletal frame and then hollered, "BY GOD, CHYEMME IS RIGHT! SHE REALLY IS _STILL ALIVE_! I CAN FEEL HER BREATH!" The druid placed hand on the rogue's face, which in the torchlight, oddly enough, showed not even the slightest signs of decay.

"Oh . . .ugh . . ." the skeletal rogue moaned in such a soft whisper that all had to strain to hear her.

The amazon wasted no time in taking the point of her short spear and driving it across the chafing ropes that bound the barely living rogue rouge to the stake she had been tied on. The sorcerer approached and caught the rogue as she fell. Blood, from obviously infected wounds, flecked his robes and arms upon impact as he softly caught her.

"Here, Sovellis, take this and give it to her," the paladin said in his ever-so-normal sentimental voice of concern as he tossed the mage the last potion.

The male sorcerer administered the potion down the rogue's throat and within seconds the effects could be seen. The dying being snapped her eyes fully open and her starved, skeletal frame filled out. Her wounds dried up, crusted over, and then disappeared. Her chapped and cracked skin became soft, moist and healthy. I had to admit, the alchemist that in ages long past that had invented these potions was a sheer genius . . . .however even his potions could not match my power, for there was still not yet invented a potion that could raise the dead. Speaking of the dead, that rouge had to have been less than a minute away from death, even I couldn't feel her dying aura, that's how faint it was. . . .

The rouge, having regained her vitality enough to be considered living, stepped down from the sorcerer's arms and surveyed us with a gaze full of confusion and bewilderment. I could also sense a hint of fear in her composition as she looked us over. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words that proceeded were not what any of us had expected.

"Raven . . .where is Blood Raven?"

The rogue had a gentle voice to match her frame. The rogue seemed to me to be about the age of seventeen turns, a small, slip of a girl. She was slightly short, about the warrior's height of 5' 6" and had a very slender (I don't know how much of that was due to malnutrition) curving frame. She was naturally petite, but surprisingly muscular in her biceps and forearms, but not grotesquely so. Her legs were slightly toned also, giving me the hint that she was not very strong, but very agile and quick. Her face was smooth and rounded, but she had a pointed nose. She had silvery-grey eyes and almost as piercing of a gaze as me. What caught my eye most about her though, was her hair. Her locks were a deep, almost blood red and came down in wisps to the top of her shoulders. Sure the druid had orange hair, but this girl gave whole new meaning to the word redhead.

"I shall not lie, and I do not mean to frighten you, but she is currently outside this very building right now, my lady" the druid answered.

The girl was quiet, but then responded with, "Then you have not killed her . . . ."

The sorceress seemed mildly irritated and impatient when she answered, "Well, she injured our friend Scorpious and her army overwhelmed us! What did you expect us to do? Wait around and die like pigs at the slaughter?"

The rogue looked remorseful and shook her head apologetically. "No, no, that's not what I meant at all . . . .I just thought that a group of warriors that was strong enough to kill Flesh Heart could kill her . . . ."

"Well excuse us for not living up to your expectations, you were certainly living it up down here yourself," I snapped. She looked slightly taken aback.

"Ignore im. Who's Flesh Heart?" the barbarian asked.

The rogue pointed to my skeletal mage, which still retained a hint of its teal color.

"It is the teal skeleton standing over there. I assume one of you is a necromancer," she said in explanation.

The amazon stepped up to the rogue to speak. "I know this might be kind of blunt, but why are you down here in the first place?"

At last, a practical question. I almost smiled.

"That would be a good thing to know, along with one more thing. What's so special about that teal skeleton? You seem to refer to it with some tone of importance," the druid asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter, druid. It's mine now," I pointed out bluntly. The rogue shivered. "What's the matter girl? If I were you I wouldn't tremble in front of them," I said gesturing to my minions, they might decide to eat you for a snack before I can stop them," I laughed.

"You . . .you claim monsters for your own. . .. What kind of power . . . ." she breathed.

"Can it Piricus!" the warrior barked at me. "Just ignore him, my lady. You are in no danger from him or his, _creatures_," he spat with a hiss on the last word, roughly shoving one of my skeletons away from him as it stepped closer.

"Control your creature, Piricus, or I will wipe the floor with them and then start on you," the assassin warned.

"I forgot that most assassins are stupid for a moment. Thank you for reminding me. The fact that we're in a mausoleum still hasn't changed, assassin. I thought you were supposed to exercise control and _intelligence_. You of all people know that if you fought me here, I'd kick your scrawny ass so far into the shadow realm you'd have trouble even melding your soul back into corporal form," I pointed out confidently.

"Like the rest of us would let you," the sorceress growled.

"That enough. Talk can wait for another time," the sorcerer interjected quickly.

"Talk? That's funny because I don't hear anything but babble when the sorceress opens her mouth," I said plainly to her.

"Then open your ears jackass," she hissed, "and maybe your eyes, because I owe you for nailing me back there! I'm going to make you pay for that eventually. Maybe I'll burn all of your hair off while you sleep and forget to put it out when it reaches your face, or freeze you into solid ice and let the sun melt you into nothing, the possibilities are endless," the snarled.

"Stop. Both of you, that is enough," the amazon interrupted, trying to play peacekeeper as usual.

"I warned him. Now I won't lose any sleep about it once I enact my revenge. But you're right, that doesn't matter right now. I have another question for you," the sorceress furthered of the rogue.

The flame-haired rogue, with her grey eyes seemed troubled as one by one, every one save the paladin and myself were bombarding the girl with questions for her to answer. I had to admit, a girl, alive, and tied down here in a mausoleum, was a bit suspicious to say the least, but I held my tongue.

"I . . .well . . . I don't . . ." she stammered.

"Quiet!" the paladin called with authority. He didn't even have to shout, only call in his tenor voice for peace. One by one, everyone stopped talking and looked to the paladin. They parted to let the paladin through to the rogue.

The paladin approached the girl, knelt, and kissed her hand before rising again. Such a gentleman, that paladin. That girl could be a demon in disguise . . . .

"My good lady, forgive our incursions, but we are, quite frankly, shocked to see another human being besides ourselves alive down here. First off, allow me to introduce myself. I am the paladin Scorpious of Zakarum."

The rogue's cheeks turned red. "I am Laurella, I am a Sister of the Sightless Eye. The rogue, being close to the paladin in the light, noticed the piercing in his armor. She gingerly ran her fingers over the tattered, extruding fragments of the paladin's under-armor and onto the paladin's exposed skin.

"Undoubtedly, this wound was made by a bolt from Blood Raven's crossbow, her mark is here," the rogue softly tapped a tiny black scar shaped like a raven's claw that had appeared on the paladin's light brown skin.

"Lady Laurella, what is your connection with the Blood Raven?" the shirt warrior asked her.

The rogues eyes immediately reflected pain at being asked that question. Something told me that reasons ran deeper than simply the corruption of a fellow warrior. I was no philanthropist, but she had obviously been through quite an emotional ordeal. Not to mention being strapped to that stake for who knows how long . . . . I would have been pissed off had I been her, not upset. She took a deep breath then looked around her, making eye contact with each one of us.

"Well, it's a long story," she began with tears in her eyes.

The paladin encouraged her with a friendly smile. She halted at first, but then continued.

"It began with the Demon Queen's ascension into our monastery. Me and . . . ."

CRACK. BANG. "MWAHAHAHA! PUNY MORTALS, YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE!" The Blood bitch's voice rang throughout the mausoleum.

"Blood Raven!" the druid hissed and pulled his club out.

"No shit," I answered him, getting a strange look from the redheaded rogue.

"She's breached the door!" the sorceress squeaked and drew her short staff to her. She continued to back up until she was squarely beside the mage.

The assassin stepped up. "Don't worry, our traps will hold her until we can find a way out, but we need to know exactly where Blood Raven is. Chyemme, will you use your Inner Sight?"

The blonde nodded.

"You're a rogue too?" the red-haired girl asked her.

"No, I'm an amazon," she corrected.

"Amazons possess the Inner Sight?" the rogue girl continued.

The amazon looked confused. "Yes, we always have. I thought all rogues knew that?"

The rogue looked down. "Well I've been in this place close to what I think has been three weeks now and even before that I never had a chance to finish my studies," she replied sheepishly.

Was I the only one that realized a demon was coming after us? "Amazon, I don't mean to interrupt your hunky-dory conversation but. . . WE ARE IN A MAUSOLEUM AND BLOOD RAVEN RAISES THE DEAD!"

She looked at me with embarrassment. "You're right Piricus. Hold on," she said to me and began to concentrate.

She had barely begun when the rogue interrupted her by announcing, "I can perform Inner Sight also, let me help you. It's the least I can do to show you my gratitude."

The amazon did not open here eyes, nor did she stop her technique, she only nodded. The rogue walked to the amazon's side and began to mirror her movements. Within moments a blue-green trail of energy and white stars lit up our surroundings twice as bright as before.

"Not bad at all," the rogue said in admiration.

The amazon laughed. "Not bad yourself."

The assassin looked to them. "Well, where is she?"

The rogue answered for the amazon. "She's directly in front of the door caught in that impressive arrangement of booby-traps."

"However," the amazon continued, "she won't stay there for long and that is the only way out of this building."

The warrior stared at her in surprise. "Chyemme, are you saying that unless we charge her at the door, she'll corner us no matter what? There's not a way out of here, even through the roof?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately not. Besides, even if we were to make one, this old roof is too unstable, It would never support our weight, we'd just fall back through and someone might get injured. And it's like Piricus said, she'll raise all the dead in here and we'll be cramped together while being swarmed."

"Is it just me, or do things just keep getting better and better around here?" the sorceress complained. This aroused a half-hearted laugh from the druid.

"Well paladin, aren't desperate charges your specialty?" I said tauntingly.

"A charge is a powerful attack, but risky, for you are likely to cause more damage but you leave yourself more open as well. Not to be used lightly, but I wouldn't call it desperate," he responded to me calmly.

"Er, well, actually we've come a long way from bein' desperate. With you bein' alrigh' now and all, Scorpious," the barbarian chimed in mindlessly.

"I agree, we have been up this creek before. It is my experience that you can go far in any type of current if you know how to use it," the druid supported with dignity.

"What does it matter? This is pointless, we'll never make it out that door," The sorceress said pessimistically.

This caused everyone else to either glare at her or shift uncomfortably.

Hearing her demoralizing words had quite the opposite affect on me. It steeled my resolve. There was no point in fearing death. This was the very first principle one learns as a Priest of Rathma. Death would come eventually to all, some now, some later. Necromancers had risen above death and learned to utilize it eons ago. I knew that when I died, my soul would rest in the spirit realm and then be reborn into a different body. This was the great Trag Oul's circle of existence. There was no point in bitching about what you cannot change. I grabbed the hilt of my dagger and yanked it out of my sheath. I was virtually unnoticed as I walked out of the room by everyone, except the shy, quiet rogue.

"Where are you going?" she called to me timidly. "You can't face Blood Raven alone, that's suicide!"

I stared blankly at her for a second. "I am a necromancer. The necromancer that raised your 'Flesh Heart' to serve me. Do you think death frightens me?" I said with no tone in my voice and turned away again.

"If you're going it's going to make me look really bad if I don't go with you," the warrior called to me, apparently having overheard. The tension eased somewhat.

"We have a better chance if we go together," the assassin said strongly, apparently she was deep in thought.

"Whatever. I need none of you," I said and walked completely into the cold, dusty hallway. One by one, the party followed me silently. We had found our way back to the core of the mausoleum, when we heard a lively howl.

"MORTALS! YOUR TRAPS HAVE FAILED!"

"She's loose!" the sorceress breathed heavily, close to a state of panic.

The amazon walked calmly to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't panic. Your magic is a force to be reckoned with Vendra, and that's only from what I've seen so far. Have more faith in yourself. I have complete confidence that you could hold your own against Blood Raven if it came down to it."

The sorceress seemed to gain confidence and calm from the amazon's kind words, but that's all they were to me, words.

I saw the rogue's head sag at the mention of Blood Raven's name. Something inside me was on full alert about that girl. She wasn't going to fight. She might even betray us . . . .

Speaking of the rogue, she snapped around with her bow eye level (I had given her the jade bow that I had found earlier and arrows seemed to by lying around like grass down here . . . .) and fired three rapid shots over the druid's shoulder. You could clearly see his unease at how dangerously close the arrows came to him.

"Uuuuuuh." A zombie dropped like a fly on a hot summer's day.

"It looks like you missed one, " she said solemnly, as we found our way back into "Diana's" grave room.

The assassin shuddered with anticipation. "Blood Raven is walking in the next room with about twenty hungry dead."

Everyone drew their weapons and steadied themselves.

"We'll charge past her toward the door," the paladin instructed serenely, without any trace of panic whatsoever. His sword flashed in the torchlight as fierce as his eyes, which were burning with that powerful religious zeal again. "One my count. Ready, One, two, three!"

We found our feet and charged thunderously like stampeding cattle into the next chamber. Blood Raven met us with her ugly, pale face and red eyes.

"FOOLS! GET THEM MY MINIONS!"

She was going to have her army slam into us like cavalry then attack us herself while we were dazed. I fell back and stopped along with the rogue whom lay twenty feet behind me, having tripped seeing Blood Raven. Sure enough, the zombies lined up for a counter-charge. The rogue's face expressed horror . . . . and great sadness.

She jumped up again and faced Blood Raven directly. "NO YOU MUSN'T!" the rogue cried out.

Blood Raven shot a glance, immediately and sharply at her. The demoness' eyes reflected some strange expression. I couldn't quite make out what it was. Her eyes widened in shock, but then narrowed as she smiled with her hideous teeth and laughed. "AH YOU! SO YOU ESCAPED YOUR PRISION ONLY TO DIE HERE. END OF THE LINE LITTLE ROGUE!" Blood Raven aimed her crossbow at the stunned and obviously hurting rogue.

The assassin turned from her charge. "She's just a demon, it doesn't matter what she says! MOVE LAURELLA!" she shouted as Blood Raven powered her crossbow.

The rogue did not move, only stood there on the verge of tears. That rogue was a pathetic, emotional girl. However she had just bought me the time I needed to execute my plan. Demon or not, Blood Raven was still flesh and blood. I concentrated on her and all the zombies within a twenty foot diameter. I felt for the flesh and composition of their eyes, and the flesh energy called back to me.

"Tir van eth mai!" I tugged at their life energies using my mind and pulled time through their eyes. Cataracts immediately began forming in their eyes, blocking all light and vision.

"MY EYES! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY EYES?!"

This particular curse was a combination of decripify and lower resistance. The necromancers called it our Dim Vision curse. The assassin and I ran strait past each other. Me on my way out, and her retrogressing back to help the rogue, whom was still standing rooted to the same spot.

I met sunlight, although it was shadowed sunlight, with gratitude, but not relief. My curse would only hold for so long and it was already dusk and fading into night fast. If we didn't kill Blood Raven before the sun set, we would never have a chance. We would not be able to see her and she would kill us as quickly as a cat to blind mice. The damn oak tree blocked out what light the moon would have provided. As for retreating and returning, that was also out of the question. By the time we would return the next morning, she would have created an invincible number of zombies from every body in that burial ground. It had to be now or never.

The assassin darted out of the tomb with the rogue in tow. "I don't know what you did to her Piricus, but it's wearing off, can't you do it again?" she called doing a back kick into the gut of a hungry dead behind her.

"Er, we got 'ourselves a bit of a problem!" he called as he hacked the heads off two zombies at once.

The warrior, who was right beside him, cut three in half and nodded in reassurance. I saw the amazon stab one through the torso before I could accurately survey the problem. When I did I saw the lutz was right, indeed we did have a problem. The army we had left behind doubled! Just how many damn bodies were in this forsaken cemetery?

"I have a better idea. I will summon the rest of the corpses here to fight for me," I answered. Although I knew fully well that doing such a thing would drain my body and leave me barely able to control the dead I raised. Damn! What choice did we have? I was not going to be killed by the damned demoness if I could help it.

"No, dumbass! To do such a thing you would have to channel your magic and immobilize yourself! You'd have to hang in the air to channel that much energy that quickly! Blood Raven is an unbeatable archer and not being able to move makes you a live target! That would be a sorry way to die, even for you jackass!" the sorceress shouted above the murmur of the Hungry Dead.

Hmm. I guess for her to have known that some of the principles of their art and mine must have been the same.

"Don't do it Piricus! We need you here with us!" the amazon called to me, concern clearly in her voice. Her concern was duly noted by the others, whom regardless of whether they liked me or not seemed to be in agreement that one more body against this mass of flesh eaters was one minute we survived longer.

"She's right Piricus! It's too risky!" the paladin called. I knew we should have left him unconscious. . . . .

"Well what would you like us to do paladin, sit here and die? Besides what do you care if I die?" I snapped back sharply.

"All human life is precious! Misguided or not!" he called back, slicing his sword downward in an arc to gracefully lop of the head of a zombie in front of him.

"Paladin, you are such a fool. This misguided life might claim yours one day. You'll regret your sentiment then!"

The paladin must have heard me, I'm sure of it, however he said nothing in reply. I think maybe now, he was returning to his senses. . . .

"We have to take out Blood Raven first! Whatever the approach, if we do not kill her we are all surely going to die!" the druid yelled urgently as he knocked a zombie's torso off its waist with his club. His wolf-pet jumped beside him, snatching the arm off a Hungry Dead in its jaws as it completed its jump and landed nimbly on its feet.

I saw the sorcerer open up his palm and the energy around and on his flesh began to crackle. A white orb of sizzling energy emerged in the center of his dark-skinned palm. He flexed his wrist open and closed, each time absorbing more of the orb. On the eighth time the orb was completely gone.

The sorcerer opened his hand swiftly and thrust his vertical hand forward, then recoiled it swiftly. He repeated the process eight times and each time, a small, electrical ball flew out a distance then split into five different pieces. The small spheres tore and burned through a good number of random zombies, clearing the area around the tall mage, Unfortunately that technique truly had blind aim. A stray orb buzzed by us and barely missed the assassin's shoulder.

"Watch where you fling those, Sovellis!" the warrior called from his position to the right. Where another lightening ball had strayed, nearly catching the tip of his sword. That would have been stupid, wasteful end even for the warrior. Charged Bolts . . . .were we now so desperate as to use random techniques?

"YOU ALL DIE HERE!" the pale monstrosity yelled as she resurfaced with her crossbow cocked.

"Oh damn! DUCK!" the amazon shouted forcefully. "She's going to fire multiple bolts!"

The two magi turned their aura radiuses to ice, much as the wind began o swirl and spin around the druid and his wolf-pet. Cyclone armor, very primitive. The paladin closed his eyes and began to glow a golden color all along his body. It must have been holy light, for the paladin seemed to be channeling some higher energy (I do not believe in his God. He casts spells like the rest of us) as well as magnify his confidence and great faith.

"You shall not conquer us this day, demoness of hell! Light prevails here, as the glory of God shall prevail over all! By my duty as a knight of Zakarum, I do defy thee!"

Ah, so he was using the famous paladin defiance aura . . .so weak were the paladins that they depended on a deity that could care less about them and only helped out when it felt like it.

"OH LITTLE PALADIN, I SEE TYREAL WATCHES OVER YOU, BUT NOT EVEN HE CAN SAVE YOU FROM ME THIS TIME!" Blood Raven pulled her crossbow's trigger.

At least thirty bolts darted toward us at lightening speed, followed by four more volleys. A few turned to ice and broke apart as they hit the magi's auras and passed into area of the air enchanted by ice. Some hit the gusty aura of the druid's cyclone armor and were thrown haltingly to the ground. The amazon had encased herself in some kind of hemisphere of dark blue stars. It appeared that time was broken in her dome, as the arrows would slow and move by in suspended motion upon entering. Oddly, this suspended motion did not effect the amazon at all, for she was dodging the projectiles with ease at regular speed. The barbarian tensed himself as the bolts hit his thick hide and simply bounced off. The rippling muscles underneath his flesh served as a shield. I had to admit, in all the years of hardships, immense training, and exposure to the elements that all warriors of the Steppes endured produced admirable results. Iron skin was one of those. Sadly, no amount of training could make a barbarian smarter or easier to tolerate. The warrior was merely evading the fire as all agile human beings do, while the assassin was skillfully deflecting and cutting bolts in half with her katars. As for myself, I concentrated on the essence of bone and then massed the swirling energy around me, calling forth the bones from all of those who had ever fallen on the grounds. I only heard a slight "ching" as the bolts glanced harmlessly off my bone shield. The only one who wasn't even remotely trying to defend herself was the rogue. That stupid bitch would either get killed or kill us all. Just what exactly was her problem anyway?

Blood Raven too, saw the rogue motionless. "TIME TO DIE LITTLE ROGUE!"

The red-haired girl did not move, only answered with sorrow, "COULD YOU TRULY DO THAT? DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE ME? GOD, HOW COULD SHE CHANGE YOU THIS WAY? YOU WERE STRONGER THAN HER!"

"WEAKNESS BECOMES YOU LITTLE LAURELLA. SOON YOU AND ALL YOUR KIND SHALL SERVE THE MASTER IN HIS ETERNAL DARKNESS!"

"MASTER? WHO IS YOUR MASTER? SINCE WHEN DID YOU SERVE ANYONE BUT LADY AKARA?"

It became obvious with just those few lines of dialogue that the rogue child had some sort of a deep connection with the Blood Raven, especially for the demon to know her by name even in such a frenzied state as it was. What ever this connection was it was enough to keep her from fighting. Loyalty to one's class was a good thing up to a certain point, but the rogue was taking this a little too far out of hand if she did not want to fight because Blood Raven was also of the Sightless Eye. Blood Raven didn't seem to care one way or the other.

"DIE!" A barrage of crossbow bolts flew towards her, but still she did not budge. The paladin jumped in front of her, letting the bolts slow and fall as they hit his aura. He turned to her.

"My lady rogue, why do you not fight? Surely fear is not the reason? This is a demon of hell and must be destroyed!"

The rogue did not answer him. She only took her head in her hands and began to sob. "Oh Celeste . . .what torture did they inflict upon you . . . What did they do . . . .your heart is so full of hate now that you do not see what you do now . . . Your powerful mind and your beautiful spirit have been corrupted . . . .you don't even see me . . .you know my name . . . . but you do not even recognize me . . . ."

The paladin's countenance reflected confusion upon these words. "My lady, what do you mean? Who . . .?"

The rogue glanced up at him mid-sentence with tears streaming down every inch of her fair-colored face, sorrow expressed in every pore. "Then what I must do is now clear. Pray for my soul noble paladin." The rogue pulled her jade bow off her back and then pulled an arrow from her quiver. The paladin, as well as the rest of us became even more confused.

"My lady, I cannot let you go," the paladin said grabbing hold of her trailing upper arm.

She looked kindly at the paladin. "You saved my life, all of you. Now I must repay the favor," she touched the paladin's tan-toned Hand gently, causing him to let go.

"DUCK!" the barbarian thundered as another round of bolts were fired off.

The paladin thrust his sword backwards underneath his arm, impaling a zombie through the chest and burning it alive with the holy fire that radiated off his blade. I stabbed an approaching Hungry Dead in the throat and then twisted my dagger, ripping it out. Green-black blood splurged out as the corpse fell to the ground becoming a corpse once more. Several more undead sauntered towards me. Not a problem, I shot a burst of energy at the corpse before me and the skin began to rapidly putrefy. All the gases that should have been released over time sprang forth and exploded at the surface of the body, forming a poison cloud and blasting some of the closer ones apart with the sheer force. The stupid drones walked right through it. Almost instantly the putrid gas began to take effect. The Hungry Dead began wheezing as the poison entered their lungs (dead or not their lungs still functioned) and started (with a little help from yours truly) to decompose the tissue. Once their lungs were gone, the poison ate through their innards, making them fall, twitching, with ungodly looking lesions. The cloud dispersed with a wave of my hand. All my undead assailants lie dead at my feet and they were going to stay dead this time, one of the many reasons you don't mess with a necromancer. The other reason lay in my own undead army, zealously hacking away at their brainless opponents, keeping the immediate area around me mostly clear.

"Ugh! By God we can kill them all day and it won't make any difference! They'll just double in number!" the warrior yelled in frustration as he jammed his sword through a hungry dead then recalled it again to his side only to thrust it into another zombie at his left.

"I agree Ryelass! I have an idea! Everybody hang on!" the druid shouted over the grunting zombies as he based one of his own over the head. "Scorpious! I'm going to clear a path! You and Laurella get ready!"

The paladin looked up with sweat drenching his brow.. "Take it away, Cloudyous!"

The air around the druid was already turbulent and blowing everything that came near him. But as he raised his hands, he conjured nature's fury itself. The cyclone around him grew to gargantuan proportions and connected with the clouds overhead. The funnel itself expanded at least sixty feet in circumference. The druid was no longer visible through the whirling winds.

The barbarian braced himself as he stood behind me. "Better brace yourself, Piricus."

I glared at him. "No, you think so?" I squatted down and looped one arm around a cross-shaped headstone.

"Vane tinirth ka!" the twister broke away from the druid and rippled out, getting larger and larger, catching hundreds of undead along the way and sucking them into the fray and spinning them around unforgiving. I felt an enormous force collide with my body and a vacuuming sensation, as if I was being dragged down some gaping, black hole. I held fast to my anchor and was soon in the eye of the storm. Minutes later, when the atmosphere around us was overwhelmed by Hungry Dead trapped in the cyclone, the druid yelled ahead to the paladin and the rogue.

"Get ready . . .NOW!"

The twister dissipated throwing corpses and stunned zombies everywhere. The paladin didn't need to be told twice, which was amazing to me, because his head was so dense that a boulder could hit it and crack. He held his blessed steel long-sword out at ready as he charged the pale demon. I laughed to myself. The rogue was nowhere in sight. Just as I thought, she wasn't going to fight at all, but I did not expect her to run like a coward.

"RAH!" the paladin swung his sword with everything he could muster, aimed right at Blood Raven's midsection. He missed when the demoness jumped nimbly into the air and twisted an unnatural 180 degrees from her waist. The idiot paladin followed by jumping after her with his sword overhead. To bad for him that his jump height didn't exceed five feet, because Blood Raven jumped into the branches of the oak tree, not to mention that the paladin was now vulnerable to her counterattack.

Why did they have to leave it to the paladin? I must admit however, it was quite amusing watching the paladin try to jump around like some kind of jackrabbit. Blood Raven leapt into the higher branch of the tree and shot several more deadly missiles at the paladin. His defiance aura became more immense and the bolts became suspended in the golden glow.

"Not this time demon!" he growled and felt the earth began to quake.

"Oh shit," the assassin muttered from somewhere behind me.

"ARISE MY WARRIORS! JOIN MY ARMY OF THE DEAD!" Blood Raven raised her hands and the corpses, all askew, began to rattle violently as well as the few, scarce un-emptied graves. "RISE!"

I tried to intercept some of the necromantic energies by channeling some of my own into the graves, but she already had control of the corpses. It would wear out my strength and be useless for me to try and mind-wrestle her control out of the Hungry Dead. I might could win about ten from her, seeing as I already had ten minions. Twenty was about my max that I could safely control at one time before I started losing control and in some cases the force holding them together. But for this army of hundreds it would take Lord Rathma himself. Even if I did manage it, there was no saying that Blood Raven wouldn't try to take them back again, and with as tired as I was becoming, it wouldn't be all that hard for her. The sun hung low in the sky and steadily dropping below the horizon.

"YOU'RE TOO LATE!" Blood Raven screeched manically. What the hell, I had better attempt to stop the army than do nothing and die. If we could just hit her once though, I still could see the open wounds from our earlier attacks and traps. Just one more strike should kill that damned abomination. I began to concentrate, but was stopped mere moments later by the assassin's angry cry.

"DAMN YOU!" she tossed an accurately timed fire bomb at Blood Raven, whom easily jumped down from the tree and landed behind a massive wall of re-risen Hungry Dead.

"Damn it!" the warrior cursed as well as he and the barbarian charged forward furiously hacking at the undead.

"We have tur get through!" the barbarian thundered with rage.

There simply were too many of them . . .we were already too late. The Hungry Dead encircled us all, pushing us all back to back in perfect circle. I had been separated from my skeletons, which without my assistance were steadily beginning to get destroyed, the sheer number of Blood Raven's monsters overwhelming them. They were putting up a valiant fight in attempt to get to me, but I watched as four became two and then two became none. The druid was to my left with his snarling wolf-pet and the sorceress was to my right quivering so heavily that she rattled her rattan short staff.

"Yes woman, show them fear," I laughed, "You'll be the first one they eat alive because of it."

She grimaced at the sound of my voice. "Of course I would end up next to _you_."

The undead began to advance on us.

"To death with honor!" the paladin cried mightily.

"Always honor isn't it? Well paladin, none escape the spirit realm, that's where wer go when we die. The Zakarum concept of heaven is a joke," I called to him with a hint of skeptical laughter in my voice.

"It's not to late for you to repent," he said powerfully.

"Repent for what? The only thing I'm sorry for is not killing you myself."

He sighed in reply and readied himself from beside the assassin.

"GOODBYE ANNOYING ADVARSARIES! SERVE THE MASTER IN HELL!" Blood Raven screamed. We were trapped. It was a dead end. Everyone stood with weapons at the ready praying to whatever gods or goddesses they prayed to.

"UP HERE BLOOD RAVEN!" a light voice with a western accent caught our ears.

"It's Laurella!" the sorceress exclaimed. We all followed her gaze to the glistening golden roof of the crypt, the building parallel to the mausoleum .

The flame-haired rogue was standing along the ridge with her hole-ridden, tattered leather boots, holding her bow at her side. She didn't have any arrows. She had probably fired the few she had at the zombies that had likely obstructed her path to get up there. My main thought came out of my mouth without any attempt at restraint. Hell, live every moment while you're alive.

"What the hell does she plan to do? She has nothing to fire! All she's going to accomplish is her own foolish, swift death!"

"It makes no sense, but you ought not assume anythin' Piricus," the barbarian said to me in his gruff accent.

"Barbarian, unlike you, I think rationally. A bow without arrows from that distance is like a spell without mana. It's pointless and useless."

"Watch and see. I've seen stranger things happen," the assassin remarked from beside the paladin.

"Have faith," the paladin replied to all of us, as we stared at the young rogue.

The girl's shoulder length hair began to flutter gently to the side of her. She and Blood Raven locked eyes.

"THIS MADNESS MUST STOP CELESTE!" the girl opened her hands and held them out so that she was in a "T" shaped position completely open to an attack.

"DIE!" Blood Raven screeched in reply.

The rogue was obviously still crying but she called out with strength in her voice, "SO BE IT! TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!"

Blood Raven didn't need a second invitation. The demon loaded her cocked crossbow and took aim.

"You fool, MOVE!" the sorceress shouted.

The rogue took no notice of her and remained motionless. Meanwhile, we had problems of our own. The zombies where right on top of us and reaching for whatever they could grab. I snapped my rear leg out in front of me, kicking a Hungry Dead in the chest. It stumbled back then returned to its original position.

"HURRY LAURELLA!" the amazon shouted.

SNAP. BRINKT. Blood Raven fired her crossbow. My eyes followed the shinning bolt as it sped towards the rogue on the crypt's roof. She didn't move. . . .

The bolt spiraled right towards her heart and in a motion lightening fast the girl yielded aside and shot her hand out, grabbing the bolt around its metallic black shaft. Without a word the redheaded rogue flipped the bolt around in her hand and put it against her bowstring. She wrapped her thumb into the bowstring, shortening it to the proper length, then drew back the string and the bolt in her pale, light-starved fingertips. She aimed at Blood Raven. It was at that moment the last rays of light were streaking across the horizon, and the blood-red rays back lighted her so we could see her clearly.

With her muscles rippling, she let the bolt fly. This all happened in seconds but to me it felt like hours as the bolt gave a final rotation( which Blood Raven could not dodge for its sheer speed), and implanted itself deep in the demoness' chest, directly in her heart before she even had time to blink.

"UGH! AH!" Blood Raven cried out as she staggered backwards. "IT IS NOT POSSIBLE!" AH!" Blood Raven's body lurched over backwards and she floated up into the air, suspended in that bridged position. The demon began to writhe in mid-air, twisting in utter pain as her heart's blood exited her body through the piercing, with her shrieking all the while.

The entire burial ground suddenly became blacker than midnight as lightening bolts erupted up from the ground all around us. The Blood Raven's body was encased in an orb of lightening and spires rocketed to that orb like a piece of iron to a magnet. Instead of being absorbed by the orb, like I had anticipated, the lightening streaks glanced right off and headed back towards us.

"DUCK!" the amazon cried as we all ignored the zombies and fell to the ground.

"AH!" a strand of lightening bolted through one of the sorceress' flailing hands. "MY HAND!" the sorceress yelled in terror as she pulled the appendage up to her eye level expecting a severe burn, but there was nothing. " . . .is alright! My hand is alright," she said with a blink of surprise.

"Are you sure it even hit you?" the druid asked her from his crouched position on the ground.

"It had to have . ..EEK!" A Hungry Dead popped up right behind her, reaching for head arm. The sorceress covered her head, waiting for the blow that did not come. A branch of the strange lightening streaked off Blood Raven's orb and collided with the attacking zombie. Upon contact, the life was burned out of its being and it swaggered to and fro, finally falling to the earth at the sorceress' feet.

"These lightening bolts aren't harmful to us! They're killing the Hungry Dead! Watch!" the warrior yelled in excitement.

"By God, he's right! We can get up now!" the assassin groaned and was on her feet hastily as the lightening storm reached a climax. Lightening was scattered about like the wind, killing zombies in all directions. We were, for the most part, no longer walled together.

Blood Raven spiraled into the air above us, glowing uncontrollably. All the Hungry Dead were scattered throughout the cemetery, lifeless. Blood Raven's body gave a final shudder and in a blinding flash of light, an ethereal bluish-white human shape ripped through the surface of Blood Raven's skin. The ghostly figure floated up to the still poised rogue, and reached for her, touching her face, before it twisted into itself and vanished. The cemetery was quiet once more after the light of the night sky returned. I couldn't see the rogue's face for the dark, but I could hear her sniffling. The only sound in the burial ground was her sorrowful voice,

"Oh my dear Celeste, be at peace. I will avenge you. I will hunt down and destroy the creature that tortured you so. I love you, so very much. Goodbye, my blood sister, Celeste. . . ."


	9. Chapter 9

-1Author's note: Man, I wish my manuscripts would type themselves. Anyway, This is just a chapter designed to give you more of an insight to the character's interactions, it was just something I thought I had to throw in after reading all the information about the different classes in the manuals. So it does have a purpose in that regard.

Disclaimer: Blizzard Entertainment owns Diablo, not me. I just own my character names.

Back to Camp

Chyemme

"ACHOO!" I sneezed loudly as the thunder rolled overhead and rain began to pelt us in the cold air. Goosebumps began appearing on my exposed skin, especially on my arms and thighs. That was one unfortunate thing about me, being raised in a tropical rainforest, I was slightly susceptible to the cold.

"Bless ya. Alrigh' there Chyemme?" Alminus asked me putting a large hand on my shoulder. I envied him, while I was shivering from the combination of wet and cold, he was standing there stark, unaffected in the least. I guess he was used to worse than this where he came from. The Steppes I knew, where in the Northlands, and snow was common place there so I really shouldn't be surprised.

"I think so. Just a little cold," I answered truthfully.

"No worries, we'll be back at the encampment soon enough. I know of a short cut," Cloudyous announced truthfully.

"Well if that was the case druid, why the hell did you neglect to give us that information this morning? Or has your mind gone to the dogs?" Piricus snapped, obviously irate, as Belthem walked beside him and shook out his coat, flinging even more water all over him. He was not at all pleased with having to be out in such bad weather.

"Can't you do something about this rain, Cloudyous?" Vendra called from where she walked ahead of me. "I thought druids have power over nature."

"It doesn't work like that, unfortunately. But the rain is good for the land," he added optimistically.

"Druid, land is there to be walked on, not worshipped," Piricus growled as he shoved Belthem roughly aside with his leg. "And your mutt reeks."

Belthem didn't take well to the contact, no matter how brief it was. He stopped and growled at Piricus, teeth barred.

Cloudyous came up behind him and put a hand on his head, stroking his ears. "Leave him be, Belthem," he said sternly. The wolf must have recognized something in his voice, for he brushed up against Cloudyous' leg reassuringly, sending strands of his wet fur clinging to Cloudyous' fur boots.

"That's real attractive," Vendra said sarcastically, eyeing the fuzz.

"More so than you are, sorceress," Piricus exclaimed. "Then again, that's not all that hard to manage."

"SHUT UP JACKASS! I swear to God I'm going to freeze you to the spot and let the demons eat you like an icicle!"

He just laughed. "You're all talk."

"And so are you, so why don't you just shut it," Ryelass snapped at him.

"Warrior, I'm going to put my foot across your face if you keep talking to me that way."

"You'll do nothing of the sort," Scorpious said flatly. "I'm not going to let anyone fight out here, at midnight, in the pouring rain while demons are lurking about. We have other priorities," he continued, glancing toward Laurella, whom had been silent the whole way here, save for a few sniffles here and there and some tears in between. She stumbled forward unstably, having been stirred out of some kind of reverie by the mention of her name.

"Take easy, My Lady," Sovellis said as he grabbed her quickly to keep her from falling over.

"Are ya, tired, Laurella? I'll be happy 'ta carry ya if ya want," Alminus offered kindly.

"I'm fine . . . .really," she insisted.

"No your not," Maria pointed out. "You're wounded for one thing," she said eyeing a scratch across the upper part of her shin, "and your state of mind is not a healthy one either."

"No . . .I don't suppose so . . ." she answered quietly.

"Here," Ryelass said gently, walking up to her. "Lean on me," he instructed and draped one of her arms across his shoulders, hoisting her up.

Laurella cringed, but leaned into him. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Paladin," Piricus began after watching this display, "My only priority is get out of this Trag Oul forsaken rain. And if I have to walk over top of you people, so be it."

Scorpious sighed. "I'd let you go first, since you're in such a hurry, but you have no clue where you're going. Cloudyous, I think you should take point, since you do know where you're going."

Cloudyous nodded. "Right. It's this way," he said gesturing to the left.

"Are you sure that you know which way? I mean it's dark and we can't see that well," Vendra asked.

"Like I said. Not to worry. I may cannot stop the rain, but I can communicate with the winds. They will guide us where we need to go," he assured.

"See, why can't you be useful like that, sorceress?" Piricus said taking another jab at her.

"Useful? I'll show you useful!" She growled and without warning she conjured an ice spire and tossed it at him. In the rain, the water froze upon contact with the missile, making it significantly heavier so the projectile dropped at his feet.

He must have known that would happen because he grinned. It occurred to me then, what he was really doing every time he taunted someone in that manner. He was playing mind games. For him, it was all about manipulating people to act in a certain, predictable manner. Anger, rage, and fear were all predictable. He knew how to push Vendra's buttons, so he knew how to get a reaction from her, which in turn made it easy to get inside her head and influence her actions, like throwing that ice spire just now. In a subliminal way, he was exercising that control, and therefore, a certain power over her. You definitely had to keep your eye on him, he nearly always had some ulterior motive for his actions. Sometimes though, I was sure that he did things the way he did, just to make life a little more difficult for the people around him. And this I thought, was his effort to push people away from him. He didn't like being close to anyone, from what I knew about him, and he went to extra lengths to isolate himself. Frightening, I thought, when I realized the subtle, seemingly insignificant things he did to further his own ends. He had at some point, I'm sure influenced all of us in some direction or another. Everyone, save maybe Scorpious.

Scorpious, like myself, must have figured this out at some point as well. With knowledge comes power, or so the saying goes. Because Scorpious understood what Piricus was doing Piricus could not work his mind control over him. The fact that he could not manipulate Scorpious only seemed to make Piricus hate him even more. Mind games were not the only reason for Piricus' hatred though. It ran much deeper than that. The hatred Piricus had for Scorpious came from a misunderstanding between the Order of Zakarum and the Priests of Rathma. Neither group was willing to peacefully acknowledge the existence of the other and their beliefs. Yes, I knew that the hatred went both ways, for paladins had undertaken quite a few crusades against necromancers and vice versa. The fact that their powers contradicted each other did not help in the least.

Piricus' hatred for Scorpious stemmed from what he was, not who he was. It was a natural hatred engrained in his heart from an age-old war. Scorpious however, was one of a group of new paladins, that I had heard broke away from the mainstream church. They believed slightly differently. Scorpious didn't seem to hate Piricus at all, and seemed only to want to help him understand that the war was pointless. In the end, necromancers and paladins were on the same side against those that would destroy the human race.

"Oh sorceress, that was pathetic. Forgot about the conditions you're fighting in, did you? Some warrior you are, yelling or crying every time something doesn't go your way or when you get scared," he furthered.

"Scared? I'm not scared! Especially not of you!" she retorted, and the argument continued, but I did not listen. Sometimes I wished that Piricus' intellect was the only thing he's exercise and not his mouth . . . .The fight was about to end like always, with Piricus saying something witty or sarcastic to send an enraged Vendra storming off.

The tall, dark mage Sovellis stepped up beside me and chuckled. "Maybe we should send both back to nursery?" he laughed in his deep voice as he watched Vendra walk away from Piricus with her nose in the air and her fists clenched at her sides.

"He likes to be annoying. He obviously gets pleasure from it," I said in agreement.

Sovellis' sparkling dark eyes surveyed his female friend and then met my blue ones. "Do not think bad of her. She act like small child sometimes, but she really quite powerful. From the way she act, you never know she is great mage of the Zhan-Esu. It not help that this the furthest we been away from home," he explained.

" Still, she probably shouldn't display her temper like that though," Cloudyous said from ahead of us, "It can lead into much worse things. We've arrived!" Cloudyous announced and we came to a halt. Ahead of me was a large circle of odd blue torch lights.

"Ah! A way point! Good thinking, Cloudyous," Scorpious announced with relief. "Okay the use of waypoints is quite simple," he called aloud to all of us. "Step into the circle and state your destination. It will transport you to the teleporter within the encampment walls. Also if someone would, take a quill and mark this spot on my personal map. I've borrowed this one from Akara," he said as he waved the soggy, paper map he was holding overhead. I only heard the paper crinkle, it was too dark to really see. "One more thing, try and memorize this location in case in the future we don't have a map."

"Oh yes, paladin! Instruct us to memorize the way when we were lead by wind, which only one of us can read, in the pitch dark and could not see the noses at the end of our faces? I assure you, we'll be very helpful paladin!" Piricus griped.

"You first then, Piricus," Scorpious said to him, ignoring what he just said. Scorpious was ignoring Piricus' satirical feedback probably for the fact that the rest of the company was tired and he did not want us to listen to them argue. Scorpious always seemed to take care of others before himself, and that was one of the things that I admired most about him. It was truly amazing, the way paladin faith allowed them to be so strong of spirit and of character, or maybe it was just Scorpious that was that way. Either way such strength made him an excellent warrior.

"That anxious to be rid of me, paladin? Very well then, I don't think you should come between me and my sleep. Besides, plenty of opportunity to vex your dreams to nightmare back at the camp," he said plainly and pushed past Scorpious as he stepped into the circle. He closed his eyes and his body became wrapped in a blue flame that burned higher and higher until he could no longer be seen behind it. When the fire spiraled counterclockwise back into its base, Piricus was nowhere to be seen.

"How about you go next, Alminus?" Scorpious suggested. My barbarian friend nodded, sloshing water out of his face and over his blue tattoos. Alminus placed a muscular leg upon the platform and within moments the fire engulfed him and he was gone. One by one, the company stepped onto the platform and disappeared until only Scorpious, Laurella, Ryelass and myself remained.

"Go ahead, Chyemme," Scorpious said to me with a nod. I looked to Laurella whom was clothed poorly and shivering worse than me. She had curled up closely right against Ryelass' body in attempt to stay warm. He had in turn, gone from supporting her to holding her. Her face was wet, I think a mixture of the rain and tears. At any rate I was afraid her face might freeze. I nodded at her.

"Ryelass, take her ahead of me," I instructed him. "She looks cold and the sooner we can get her to a fire the better," I said softly, looking her in her sorrowful gray eyes.

"Can this thing transport us both?" he asked, shifting his hold on her so that she was leaned up against him at a more comfortable angle.

"One at a time would be best. Lady rogue can you stand? It will only be a moment," Scorpious assured.

"I . . .I think so . . ." she replied with teeth chattering.

Ryelass gently held her arm for support as she stepped onto the circle. "Take it easy," he encouraged. "I'll be right behind you."

She nodded, but stumbled when he let her go, but before she could fall the flames took her, absorbing her shivering, sad frame from view.

"Go after her Ryelass, you might have to catch her," Scorpious said with concern.

"I know. See you there," he said simply and hastily made his way after her.

"If anyone needs prayers and blessings Scorpious, it's Laurella," I said quietly, eyeing the teleportation device where they had disappeared. I turned to look at my companion as he spoke.

"I know, and rest assured I will do just that. Unfortunately, now is not the time for a formal prayer. You and I must return to camp in order to comfort her."

"I want to help her Scorpious, the sadness around her and on her face breaks my heart. But I don't know where to start or what to say, or even if I should say anything at all. Losing a loved one is never easy and sometimes it's best to just let a person grieve," I said with a thousand different thoughts running through my mind at once.

I heard the gentle sound of footsteps upon the earth before Scorpious placed a warm tan-colored hand on my armored shoulder. "I cannot tell you how you will act Chyemme, but I can give you a push in what I think is the right direction. Remember, an act of kindness is rarely forgotten so easily and more often than not it returns ten-fold," he said gently with wisdom. "Besides," he added, "I have a feeling that the tragic death of her sister is not all that she has suffered through. Yes, there are many questions that need to find answers, but let her answer on her own good time. Curiosity will only hurt her more."

I nodded my head in understanding. I only had one more thing to ask, "Scorpious, what makes it so easy for paladins to care for others?"

Scorpious looked surprised and his lips curled into a faint smile. "Well," he began, "it all basically comes down to a noble truth of Zakarum that says we are all children of god and as such, we are all equal in his eyes. And as equals we should strive to help each other become equal in understanding so that we can live in harmony. What lasting love, understanding, or peace can come from wickedness, hate and malice? After all, what harm usually comes from kindness?"

"People like Piricus," I said quickly. "He said a little while ago that he wanted to kill you. And I don't think you two have known each other long enough for this to be a man-to-man feud. You're always kind to him, yet he still hates you, and I don't know . . .he might actually attack you . . ." I said in concern. "You could save his life and that would just make him hate you more."

"Ah , yes, that. Piricus hates me because he is a necromancer. I have always known that necromancers reject, sometimes violently, our ideals because if what we say is true, there would no longer be a need for them in the spiritual balance. People, not magic, would determine that balance. And so, necromancers fight us tooth and nail, hoping that if they stomp us out our ideals will die and the threat to their magic will be gone. What most people seem to have trouble understanding is that I am not a soldier, I am a keeper of the peace. I preach equality and understanding and I try to lead by example."

"Then why--" I began but he already knew my question.

"Then why do we fight? Paladins, while teaching peace and harmony, also realize that sometimes fighting is necessary to defend the peace that was earned. Especially fighting against demons and the like. Unlike what you might have heard about my predecessors, my particular branch of the church doesn't fight people unless there is no other possible way. We don't carry out brutal inquisitions like paladins have done in the past. We believe that the souls that do not believe--people like Piricus-- are not innately evil, nor or they possessed by demons and must be destroyed. We believe that these people should be the ones we reach out to most, we should help them, guide them, and teach them, not condemn and kill them. And I have made it my mission not to give up on anyone, the Lord works in mysterious ways, so there is hope even for Piricus. As for him attacking me, do not trouble yourself. He isn't so foolish as to try and take me on in front of everyone else, and that's what that fight would be. He would be trying to prove something to everyone else. What would it matter if he managed to strike me down in private where no one could see. It would make more of a statement for him and be more productive to his ends for such a thing to be public. Besides, I do not think he is that much of a coward, to attack me while I am alone in the dark, and I have many strengths he has not yet seen, as I'm sure he's aware. He wouldn't want to fight me without seeing more of what I'm capable of. He strikes me as the cold, calculating sort. But maybe," he said smiling at me as if he knew something I didn't, "not that cold. I think he cares a great deal about what you think of him, Chyemme."

"Me?" I gawked in surprise. "I'm in the same boat you are. He said if I get in his way he'd kill me," I said in my defense.

"That may be so, but I sense he harbors no ill-will toward you, unlike some of us. And he seems to do what you ask of him, albeit grudgingly to say the least."

"So what are you driving at?" I asked him, confused.

"Simply that you may have more of an influence over others than you realize. Consider your actions carefully, as you should always."

An icy breeze entrapped the rain and blew the hard droplets against my wet skin. I shivered again, stronger than before. No wonder the rogues called it the Cold Plains. Scorpious gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It would be best not to discuss this matter on at prairie, at midnight, in the rain with demons lurking about. Let's get back to the fire and dry off. You look cold and we're both soaked to the bone," he pointed out.

I smiled as water dripped from my lips. Scorpious' hand slid down to my bicep as he helped me onto the platform. My red leather boots kicked up several inches of water as I stepped down. It was really raining hard.

"Do hurry, Scorpious. The rain is really coming down," I said in concern.

He smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be right behind you."

Thunder crashed in the darkness as I finished stepping onto the circle. I closed my eyes just as the rain started turning into hail, frozen by the chilling winds of the Cold Plains. In my mind, like instructed, I pictured the Rogue Encampment and its warm fire, which seemed to combat the numbing cold momentarily. My keen hearing alerted me to the sound of the blue fire flaring.

The next thing I knew was a lurching and vacuuming sensation as I was swirled around and sucked downwards. I felt a similar chilling feeling as I had when I had walked through the town portal, so I assumed that I was being hurtled through some cross dimension of space. I couldn't say for sure though, for my eyes were clamped tightly shut. The desire to vomit from the dizzying, swirling motion was strong indeed. To see the motion that my body was experiencing would probably force my earlier meal to resurface. Feeling the movement was bad enough. Immediately as the voyage began, it ended just as abruptly. When I stopped twirling and could no longer feel movement I reopened my eyes and looked around.

Sure enough, I was inside the towering, makeshift walls of the rogue encampment. To my right was a wooden shack that I recognized as Lady Akara's quarters and to the left was a caravan, much like the one Vendra, Sovellis, Piricus and I had ventured here on, however it was not ours. As I looked the wagon over I noticed a strange, short, fat, and oddly dressed man standing beside it. He was wearing a large deer-skin overcoat that barely fit his body and an odd, flapped leather cap that was bobbing on and off his head as he began to climb into the canvas-covered caravan. I peered after him, but my view was suddenly obscured by three pairs of seemingly curious eyes. I shook my head and looked up again.

Vendra, Ryelass, and Alminus were all looking at me curiously. I spotted Maria over to my left, leaned against a wooden tent pole with her arms crossed. Cloudyous was slightly to her right, busy wrapping his wolf, Belthem's, right rear leg over a nasty looking gash. A pair of large, dark hands clapped my shoulders.

"You okay, Chyemme, you just staring to nowhere," Sovellis said from behind me. I was still shaky from the teleportation, so I almost collapsed from the weight of his hands.

I answered him as I regained myself. "Yes," I said although, not without a feeling of queasiness. "Hey Vendra, who's that man that just stepped into that caravan?" I asked

Vendra turned around, following my gaze. "I don't see anyone."

"No, I mean, he went in. He was kind of short and fat and," I began.

"Had a grotesque fashion sense?" she finished for me, causing her to receive a nod from me. "That's Gheed, he's a local merchant that specializes in black trade, and that's Warriv's caravan . . . .I'd better go tell him," Vendra announced and turned and walked in the opposite direction with her wavy hair trailing behind her.

I surveyed the group again and noticed a peculiar absence. "Where's Piricus?" I asked.

"I think he said he was going to get Commander Kaysha because we had a report to make. He was here just a second ago," a small, almost childlike voice answered from behind me with an occasional pause.

I turned to see the windblown, soaked, and ragged Laurella. She was standing on her own two feet now, but still wobbled a bit from side to side.

"I see. Are you okay?" I asked stepping down off the platform towards her. However, when I took that step I stumbled forward with a fresh surge of dizziness. I didn't land on the ground, but rather I felt something velvety and soft against me. A cold, icy touch followed closely by demeanor, shoved me back forcefully so that I rolled over into the grass.

Piricus sat up, brushing himself off and glowering at me. He had chosen that exact moment to walk around the corner. I sat up also, my head reeling.

"Damn it amazon, can you not walk properly?" he spat in irritation as he hoisted himself to his feet again, removing stray blades of grass from his robes. I stood shakily and was about to fall again, but I was caught by something steady that supported me. A strong hand had seized my arm and silky, chestnut-brown hair tickled my cheek. Ryelass hoisted me up like he had done to Laurella earlier, he having been the closest one to me at the moment.

"Hold still for a minute until you feel better. I've got you," he said comfortingly as I dropped my weight against him. I looked at Piricus, whom was glaring daggers.

"I'm sorry Piricus, I didn't see you. I didn't mean to land on you like that," I apologized.

He rolled his eyes. "You and your clumsiness! You're almost as bad as the barbarian," he grumbled.

Ryelass frowned. "Alminus was the same as you, Chyemme, he felt sick when he stepped off of there too," he explained to me, before proceeding to snarl at Piricus. "And I wouldn't apologize to him. What else is he good for? I'd rather him break something than you. And one last thing. Alminus is my friend, stop insulting him or pay the consequences."

Piricus stepped up to me and Ryelass. He towered above Ryelass by about four inches if not more, and over me by at least three. He placed his sharp featured face dangerously close to Ryelass' own.

"Is that so? And just what exactly are you going to do about it little man? Scream so loudly at the sight of my skeletons that they fall apart? You've had tremendous luck with the undead so far," he mocked in dark humor.

"Just because I slipped up once doesn't mean the same thing will happen twice. I don't repeat my mistakes," he snapped back.

Piricus burst out snickering with laughter. "Oh, is that all? Well one mistake can severely cost you, especially against me," Piricus furthered.

They were on the verge of a fist fight, and I was beginning to get the inclination that maybe it would be in my best interest to duck out from between the two of them. I started to move as blue fire erupted from the waypoint. As the flame spiraled to new heights, it twisted the figure of Scorpious into view from its base. The fire died away and I was relieved when Scorpious' righteous brown eyes caught sight of the situation.

"Maybe I should have extended my earlier comment about fighting to include fighting in the encampment. Do not disrespect the graciousness of the rogues whom have allowed us sanctuary here by dueling within their walls. I expected as much from you Piricus, but Ryelass I thought you'd have held your temper in check a little better," he said admittedly, like an adult reprimanding children.

Piricus' eyes flashed as he rounded on Scorpious. "Paladin I'd toss him aside like the talking trash he is in a heartbeat for a crack at you. You were just gone for two minutes and that's longer than the time it would take me to finish you. I swear paladin, you are like unto a mosquito, annoying and a plague to the last breath! One day your meddling is going to catch up to you. In fact--"

"MY CARAVAN!" A very tan, Arabic looking man dressed in blue desert gear came dashing into view, waving his fists madly. "GHEED YOU THIEF, I WILL HAVE YOUR HIDE THIS TIME!"

The fat man I had seen moments ago resurfaced with a horrified expression on his piggy face, carrying a well-loaded knapsack of goods.

In a flurry of movement, the Arabic man darted in the middle of Scorpious and Piricus sending them in different directions to dodge him. He disappeared from view around the corner chasing the fat merchant, Gheed. Piricus picked himself up for a second time, as did Scorpious for his first.

"Warriv, I assume," I asked Ryelass, and he nodded to me.

"That would be him," he said simply. "Gheed's been stealing a lot of people's stuff lately to sell as his own. He seems to rob Warriv most often though. Warriv's had the suspicion, but until now he hasn't had any hard evidence to act upon."

Vendra appeared from somewhere to my right, panting and out of breath. "God, he took off like a firecracker. I expected him to be angry, but nothing like that."

Maria straitened herself against the pole she was leaning on. It was a strange thing to see that the ever-poised assassin had been slouching, but she had as much reason to be tired as everyone else. "Vendra, did you see Kaysha? She was supposed to have told Piricus she was coming."

Vendra nodded as she bent down to put her hands on her knees for support while she caught her breath. Within moments Kaysha came around the corner, her chain mail clinking to her gait. She walked up to us, looked us over thoroughly, then said with a big breath,

"I can hardly believe that you've defeated Blood Raven! Although she was once my closest friend I pray her tortured spirit remains banished forever. You've earned my respect strangers, and the allegiance of the rogues. I'm going to place--My God it can't be!?" Kaysha stopped mid-sentence and hastily pushed Cloudyous and Alminus aside to reveal the quiet, shivering form of Laurella, whom was staring up at her with those same, sorrowful eyes.

Kaysha's eyes widened. "Laurella? It can't be, you, you died! I don't believe this, are you really Laurella?!" the woman shouted in her utter disbelief.

Laurella didn't answer her. Instead her lip began to tremble.

"ANSWER ME, DAMNIT!" She yelled in the fury of being ignored. Kaysha immediately withdrew her longbow from her back. Aiming at Laurella she shouted, "I know! You must be a demon in disguise, most don't speak our tongue!" She pulled back her bowstring.

"Kaysha don't!" Vendra yelled.

"She's with us, it's alright," Maria assured her.

Kaysha loosened her grip on her arrow, but not quite letting go.

"Would you really pray my sister to hell, Kaysha? She's free now . . .free to go to Tyreal where she actually belongs . . . ." Laurella looked directly at Kaysha as she spoke, still giving her that same, vacant stare.

Kaysha neither relaxed nor tensed.

"It is me, Kaysha. Shoot me if you wish. It would be no less than what I deserve. I hear the deepest circle of hell is reserved for those that kill their own family . . . ."

Kaysha lowered her bow and turned her back to Laurella with her arms crossed. "It wasn't your fault, Laurella. I have no doubt it's you now, you've always been quick to blame yourself for everything. Blood Raven was beyond words. Nothing but death could have freed Andariel's hold over her. It was an act of true love to let her go rather than keep her here where she was tormented. I would have done the same had I been in your shoes, you must remember that Celeste was my best friend, so she was like a member of my family as well. The whole sisterhood mourns her loss, as we mourn the loss of all our dear sisters. That's what we do, because we are one big family, each and every one of us. And speaking of families, you should go see the head of ours. Laurella, please go see Akara. She'll need to know that you're back." Kaysha answered without moving.

Laurella sniffled, but bowed her head. "Yes ma'am." She started forward shakily, and Scorpious moved over to help her.

"Would you like me accompany you?" he offered kindly. She nodded. "Alright. Then off we go," he said gently as the two of them disappeared around the corner, headed for Akara's hut.

Kaysha turned to face us again. She seemed to be feeling a mix of emotions that showed through in her eyes. She seemed to feel remorseful and also somewhat angry.

"What is it?" Maria asked her, having obviously made this association as well. That was one thing about Maria, she seemed to be able to read people like open books most of the time. Even though she did not possess the Inner Sight, her associations and assumptions were usually dead on. It made sense. In her line of work knowing who to trust was everything.

Kaysha sighed. "By God, such a tragedy, that girl, and she's barely seventeen turns. Blood Raven was her sister and the only family she had. When Andariel took her, the poor girl was beside herself, as were we all, but she took it especially hard. It was such a personal matter for her. We thought she was dead, nobody had seen her since that night at the monastery. Rest assured, I am going to get a full account from her about all that has transpired since then, but not tonight. She has been through hell, as I can only imagine have you all. As I said before, Celeste--you all know her by her fighting nickname, Blood Raven-- was once my closest friend. Laurella wasn't the only one to loose something when she turned. But the question that haunts me to this moment, is why. Why would she turn to Andariel? How could she be so easily overtaken?" Kaysha sighed, deep in thought.

Maria closed her eyes. "Demons have a strange means of accomplishing things. In no way do they fight "fair". She obviously had some weakness that the demon exploited. Something that drove her to insanity first. If one is not sure in the mind, the more easily they are overtaken," she said authoritatively, as if speaking from experience.

Kaysha shook her armored head. "I guess you're right, but now we'll never know. Either way, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. It's in the past, although be aware that it is going to be quite some time before Laurella puts this behind her, if at all. She is quick to berate herself for even the smallest things. But, back to what I was going to say before I was so obviously startled. I have placed several of my best warriors at your disposal. Although, I must say, it's a miracle that you all have survived this task with only the few scrapes and bruises I see here."

Ryelass shook his head. "But it does matter. The mystery of what turned Blood Raven could run far deeper than any of us know. It could affect us all somehow. And more to the point, it doesn't help ease Laurella's pain. Hers is not the only difficulty we have encountered today though. Scorpious and I almost died today. If it weren't for Laurella, we'd all be dead now. I for one, can't say that I'm sure I'd have the courage to do what she did today. Speaking of which, I'm going to see her. I want to see for myself that she has been seen to and let her know I'm here to help if she needs me," he said in genuine concern.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Ryelass. Akara's probably healed her wounds and there are no better hands for her to be right now than Scorpious'. He has a way of healing more than just physical scars," Vendra panted slowly.

"That man truly is a miracle," Cloudyous said from beside us.

I heard Piricus' familiar, cold laugh. "Oh yes, it is a miracle we haven't died yet under his leadership."

"I'd follow him into hell, which is where you're headed anyway, Piricus, with the track you're on," Maria said dangerously.

Piricus snorted. "Have a little bit of a thing for the paladin, do we assassin? I don't believe in hell."

"Hardly," she snapped, "With a lifestyle like mine, I am forbidden to love. And love is far from the reason I admire him so. His convictions lend us more of an advantage in battle than you could ever render."

"You haven't seen anything yet," he warned her, and I believed him. Every time I turned around, Piricus always had something new up his sleeve.

"Um, I don't see how you can not believe in hell," Vendra said honestly from beside us.

"She right, all demons come from hell," Sovellis agreed.

"Ask the amazon," he said looking pointedly at me. "They don't believe in your Zakarum God or your heaven and hell existence either."

"They don't?" Vendra asked in surprise as she looked at me.

I shook my head. "We believe in a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. However, we do, contrary to what Piricus just said, believe in heaven and hell. Just a bit differently than others do." Although, inwardly, I found myself being more and more unsure as to my religion as of late.

"I can't see how yur don't believe in jus' one God. Tyreal 'imself said that he was an angel of God. And if he ain't from heaven, I got no clue where else he could come from. Ya do believe in Tyreal, don't ya guys?" Alminus asked us skeptically.

"Tyreal, is simply from a higher plain of existence. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt he exists. People have actually seen him, he's all over history," I admitted. "What do you think about that, Piricus?" I asked him, keenly interested in what he would say.

"I think even if I told you, you are all to dense to understand it. That's why you exist, isn't it assassin? To hunt down and kill what you don't understand?" he snarled at her.

"I understand that the way some people believe causes them to act without fear of consequences. Some people simply believe things in a manner that makes them dangerous to others. And that's where I come in," she said darkly, looking strait at him. "I am here to put an end to people like your Prince Darkblade."

Vendra and Sovellis shifted uncomfortably and if looks could kill, Piricus would have killed Maria ten times over.

"Er, Kaysha," Alminus interrupted quickly, bring everyone's attention back the fact the rogue commander was still there, "Wha' did lady Akara say 'bout the report?"

"She asked that you all assemble and come see her first thing in the morning, there is something she would ask of you that has been troubling her for many days now. I'll leave you all to your dark conversations, or your dreams, which ever follow in my absence," she answered and left.

Maria, still glaring daggers at Piricus stated simply, "We should all go to sleep, it's late and we're going to need rest."

Sovellis nodded. "Yes, we sleep now."

I looked around and despite the recent conversation, now that I could see them all in the firelight, everyone, even Piricus looked exhausted.

Maria was the first to move, she straitened her back and stretched her fingers over her katars. Without a word, though her eyes could have said it all, she took her leave.

I was exhausted, every muscle in my body hurt and the many scabbing stratches on my body still stung.

Ryelass looked at me, from where he still held my arm. "I think you're alright now, are you not?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks," I said earnestly as he let me go. He didn't walk off in the direction of his tent, but rather walked in the same direction Laurella and Scorpious had gone.

I nudged Vendra from where she was somehow falling asleep standing up. "We should probably go to sleep, if we go now we won't interrupt Maria," I suggested.

She yawned slightly. "You're right, I'm coming. Sovellis, try not to snore. Remember you almost burnt down Madam Kyre's hut when you fell asleep in class," she said facing her tall companion, whom blushed, making his dark cheeks even darker.

"That was accident. Goodnight feisty one," he teased and suddenly vanished in a thin wave of light.

Vendra rolled her chocolate brown eyes and began to make her way to our designated tent with me beside her.

"What do you mean about Sovellis? Who's Madam Kyre?" I asked curiously.

Vendra laughed, tired though she was. "Oh, well, of course Sovellis keeps it a secret, but he's got so much magic energy that when he snores sometimes fire comes out his mouth. It's an annoying bad habit, but only minor. Madam Kyre was his and my magic instructor in the Zhan-Esu," she said with a humorous smile.

I snorted in surprise. "Wow, a problem like that is minor?"

Vendra seemed even more amused by my shock. "Yes, it's really the equivalent of a child's bed-wetting habit. Anyway, he hasn't done it in years, so I wouldn't worry," she said as she lifted our canvas tent flap for me to walk through.

Maria had already finished un-strapping her armor and was laying one of her katars under her pillow when we walked in.

"What's that for?" Vendra asked accusingly. "You don't trust us? Or is it that you don't trust just me, because I'm a mage?"

Maria looked at her pointedly. "If I didn't trust you, I would probably be sleeping, or pretending to, with my armor on and my weapons in a more quickly useable position. You'll have to forgive me, but it's an assassin instinct. You should always be prepared, especially in the dark of night."

"Prepared? Prepared for what? To kill someone in cold blood because you think they're dangerous for not believing the way you do?" Vendra growled at her, much to my shock.

Maria's lip twitched. "I knew you'd take that the wrong way. If you were after what I'm after you'd be alert too. If you had seen what I saw or know what I know, you'd be checking and double checking every dark corner, every crevice. A normal mind, or a normal body for that matter, wouldn't function well under my lifestyle," she said darkly.

"You're a mage-slayer, so what exactly are you doing here again?" Vendra asked in concern, casting Maria a leery glance.

"Chasing a "cold-blooded killer" as you'd call him. Apparently, I might should also assign myself the task of keeping an eye on the large gathering of mages here, what with so much corruption abounding."

Vendra snorted. "I can't believe that I'm actually starting to se eye to eye with Piricus of all people, especially about you. Obviously since two mages long dead screwed up, we're suddenly all to blame?"

Maria sighed. "Think of me what you will, it is only natural for people to pass judgment on others. You mages just simply don't understand how powerful the forces that you're playing with are. One "screw up" as you call it, is enough to plunge the world into a new era of darkness. Bartuc and Horazon were just a foothill compared to what would happen if history repeated itself now! I want to be perfectly clear that I will not hesitate to rectify mistakes made, by lethal force if I must. Indeed Vendra, can you deny that fear of our swift retribution has kept many sorcerers from demonic magic?"

Vendra scowled, and I could see it in the dark. "With every word you speak I'm beginning to like you less and less. Keep going and I might end up hating you as much as I hate Piricus. Vizjerei are not the only ones who learned a costly lesson. In the Zhan-Esu, we seek only pure, elemental magics. Bartuc and Horazon are considered betrayers among the magical. Maria, we did not start out chasing demonic magics. Anyway, dark magic is banned to every mage clan now, including the necromancers," she protested.

"Even so, some mages are too weak minded and allured anyway. Your clan punishments are not severe enough to prevent the mindset that they are strictly forbidden arts. That's why we're here. Our judgment comes on deadly and swift wings to those that stray from the path of light. We make no exceptions," Maria said emotionlessly.

"Apparently not!" Vendra shouted. "Did you ever wonder how Sovellis got to be in the Zhan-Esu? We are an order of only women! His parents practiced demonic magics and were killed by the Viz-Jaq'taar, or assassins as you like to call yourselves, before they ever had a chance to repent, right in front of his eyes! Thank God he was still too small to remember! They would have killed him too, but Madam Kyre intervened. She insisted that corruption is a personal choice, not a inherited trait. The only thing that spared his life was the personal vow she took that would offer up her own life and his should his path give way to sin!"

I stood there in stunned silence. The way Sovellis acted towards Maria, you'd never know. And Vendra too for that matter. "Does he know this?" I asked quickly.

"Vendra whipped around to face me harshly. "No he doesn't! And I will rip out your tongues myself and melt you to mush if you tell him!"

"Then how is it that you came by this knowledge?" Maria asked coldly.

"I . . I overheard Madam Kyre talking to someone. Someone that came to her late at night. I had come to see her about nightmares I was having. About seeing it happen," she admitted.

"You had dreams about it?" I asked her, even more shocked. "Vendra, that's a sign of the third sight."

"Call it what you want. I've found that when I'm close to people, especially Sovellis, I am connected to them somehow. I can see what he sees sometimes . . . ."

"Does he know that either?" I asked.

"He knows about the connection, but he has no way of knowing what I see unless I tell him and vice versa."

"It must be strange to connected to someone that way," I admitted. "Does it make you uncomfortable?" I asked.

"Not nearly as uncomfortable as having a killer in the same room as me! You probably know the man that killed them, I'll bet you anything," Vendra spat.

"Then why haven't you confronted me before now?" Maria demanded. You acted as if nothing were wrong up until this moment."

"That's because I believe what Scorpious says about not judging people based on a whole. I didn't want to blame you for something you personally didn't do. But now, I'm beginning to see that you're all alike. That to you, killing people is a routine, non- personal affair. Maria, you claim to worship the God of Zakarum and he claims that you should not kill! He claims that you should _love_ _and_ _forgive other people._ With the way you act and believe, how are you not a walking contradiction!?"

"My relationship with God is none of your business. I need no forgiveness for what I do. Does Scorpious need your forgiveness for killing evil where he finds it? For stamping out corruption where he finds it, and usually by martial force?" Maria retaliated.

"Maria, Scorpious doesn't kill _people_! And he's completely different than you. For one thing he preaches forgiveness. He offers people a second chance!"

"People don't change. The wicked will always remain wicked, there is no hope for them. If I gave everyone a second chance like you suggest, then half the people I know would be dead," she said flatly.

"Maria . . . ." I began, unsure how to react to that.

"I advise you not to become involved in this, Chyemme," she said sharply. "If you truly believe in the teachings of Zakarum, then why don't you forgive them? I know the people that were there that night. I know one of them well, They believed that they were doing the right thing," she admitted.

"Maria, were you there? Did you take part in this?" I asked. I couldn't help myself.

"Do I look that old to you?" Maria asked defensively. Sovellis is what, twenty- four turns? That would have made me barely two, although I can tell you that wasn't a good age for me either."

" Still! I can forgive mistakes, but not a lifestyle that is sin in its inherent nature!" Vendra shouted exasperated.

"Then what are you going to do? How are you going to resolve this? Are you going to become like Piricus and make my life more difficult by dealing with you? Are you going to run to Sovellis, and tell him everything, so that he can come sort this out for himself? Eventually, whether from you or not, he will learn what happened. And I am ready to stand beside the choice of my colleagues," Maria stated icily.

"No, I'm not going to tell him. It would tear him apart! He believes that his parents were killed in a fire, the fire which your assassins set to make it look like an accident! And I'm not going to take this up with you any further, unless you give me reason to so that he won't suspect. I care too much about him to subject him to that. Being the idiot he is he might try and seek revenge," Vendra said with a snarl at Maria.

"Revenge is a nasty thing," Maria said quietly, and unexpectedly, more softly. "It would cost him more than just his life."

"You won't touch him! Ever! I would be there fighting alongside him, even if it meant fighting against you!" Vendra snapped defensively.

"Then stop this immediately. Let this be the end of it. I'm sure it won't come down to that, after all, Maria herself had nothing to do with it," I said quickly, trying to cool the situation down some before an actual fight broke out.

"Way to play pacifist!" Vendra said growling at me.

"I agree with her. I have no desire to fight with you, Vendra. Nor do I desire to harm Sovellis. As long as neither of you give me reason, I'll leave you well enough alone."

"You'd better," Vendra spat.

"What was the point of this conversation if you are not going to act upon it?" Maria asked, mirroring the thought in my mind.

"I wanted you to know, that I think you're wrong and if you keep going the way you're going, Piricus is not the only one that will be your enemy! And trust me, Sovellis and I make for a nasty pair of adversaries." she announced.

"If you're through ranting at me, then we'd best get to sleep. What little of it we get will foreshadow how useful we are to the others in the morning," Maria insisted, bringing closure to the matter.

Vendra closed her eyes and sighed. Vendra plopped down on her cot, removing her soft leather boots, although I could still see the tension in her face. It would probably take her a while to get to sleep, she had not so easily shoved aside the recent discussion with Maria, not that I would expect her to at all.

Maria finished adjusting her surroundings, and when she noticed Vendra still glowering at her in the dark, she sighed herself. She got up, removed the katar from her pillow, and placed it in a trunk at the foot of her bed. "Now go to sleep," she demanded and sat down silently. That was another thing about Maria, she never made an unnecessary noise.

Amazons valued stealth and caution as well, and if one trained enough, we could attain the same skill level. However in more recent times my people had started to lose the ways of the ancients and such skills became little more than a luxury. Only the few lucky amazons choosen by our Queen to train with King Karcheus the watcher on the island of Philios still understood and practitioned the art of moving without noise.

I obviously respected the old ways of training. I felt connected to them, almost a calling you would say. It was the closest thing I had in my life to the empty slot of meaning. My whole life I had been taught that I, as an amazon, had a sacred duty to uphold truth, justice, and honor. And yet now my people sevred no one but themselves and our own justice. We trained from birth until death and all for what? A tradition. A memory . . .of what our people used to be. My life there, it had held no meaning. To train only to say that we were able to, but did not uphold our sacred vow, was at best, pointless. I believed that through practicing our gifts openly and wholly upholding the ideals our ancestors had fought for, we would serve a far greater purpose than even we could understand. We could, and we would as a people, do so much more good. If only that was the meaning of my life. To live to uphold these vows not just on the isles but in the whole world beyond. To be a warrior of truth and honor. Maybe that was why, with a little influence from Scorpious, I was beginning to believe more and more in the supreme God of the Zakarum instead of the amazon goddess Zerae. Don't get me wrong, there was no doubt in my mind that Zerae existed, just that I was becoming more and more unsure as to her position in the scheme of things. Maybe she was not a goddess, but an immortal angel, like Tyreal?

The more and more I saw, the God of Zakarum was becoming a God of purpose. He sent his warriors on crusades to help people, as opposed to our amazon goddess that gave us skills and absolutely no reason to use them. The God of Zakarum also seemed to be a God of love, he preached forgiveness and the like. Was it the love of this god that made his warriors so strong compared to others? One look at Scorpious' shining eyes and valiant heart was enough to let me see that he had been strengthened because of the way his God taught him to act. Scorpious' conduct was a source of light and it was that light that at times had been our greatest weapon against the darkness, like his sanctuary aura in the cemetery. Now Scorpious was a man with purpose. It was his purpose to use his heart and his faith to bring light into the world. Light . . . .a flash in my mind of a pair of sharp, piercing, and cold emerald eyes caught me totally unaware.

While looking into Scorpious' eyes I saw warmth and light, but Piricus' eyes always reflected the opposite, cold and darkness. If Scorpious' light meant purpose, could Piricus' darkness mean emptiness? Could it be that Piricus felt the same nothing that I did?

By this time, Maria had already fallen asleep and was dozing soundlessly, and Vendra, also asleep, was rolled on her side with a pillow over her head and snoring. My guess was that though she had been shaken, she was more tired than anything else. I smiled to myself. Such a tough woman that Vendra, at an eye's glance, but only at a glance.

A slight ruffle of the canvas of our tent brought me out of my reverie. The pale, slender hand that had parted the flap was soon accompanied by the rest of the young lady. My eyes could see her flame-colored locks dangling at her shoulders even in the darkness. A pair of silvery eyes, puffed red with past tears met mine.

"Excuse me, Lady Chyemme," she said in a voice barely above a whisper, Lady Akara told me that I might find an extra bed in here." Although she had finished speaking she still stood silently in the doorway. Despite the looks of her eyes, she seemed to look like she felt somewhat better.

"Come on in, the bed is on my right," I whispered warmly.

Laurella's voice sounded a little scratchy when she answered, although I could tell she was grateful. "Thank you, I didn't mean to disturb you, I . . ."

I raised my hand gently to silence her. "don't worry, I was already awake. And besides. It's better for me to know that you're here so that I can give you this," I replied while reaching over the right side of my bed and removing the extra blanket that resided there. "You're going to need this, the sheets the rogues provide barely warm your toes," I joked gently as I tossed the blanket over onto Laurella's bed.

Laurella's lips twitched, the closest thing to a smile I'd seen all night. "Thanks again Lady Chyemme."

"Please, just call me Chyemme," I said earnestly with a soft smile.

"I see Lady Vendra has had no trouble sleeping," the young rogue said quietly while she glanced at the sleeping sorceress.

I laughed soundlessly. "Oh yes, the sleep of ages, that one."

With another half grin and a look at Maria, whom hadn't moved since I last saw her, Laurella began making her way through the darkness to her bed.

"Watch yourself, Vendra's boots are about four inches in front of you," came Maria's smooth voice.

"Oh, Lady Maria, how long have you been awake?" Laurella asked apologetically.

Without moving her body or opening her eyes Maria quietly laughed as she answered, "Since you came in. I wouldn't be much of an assassin if I couldn't tell when somebody entered into my own sleeping quarters. By the way, drop the title. Lady isn't really a befitting title for me--watch your foot."

Sure enough, Laurella looked down and picked up her front foot just in time to avoid tripping over Vendra's outlying shoes. "How can you see in this dark?" Laurella asked quietly in astonishment.

"Assassin senses. I can feel every move you make and every object in this room. I've been trained to see with my eyes closed," she said simply.

Laurella finally found her bed and sat down lightly. "Wow! That's impressive, you can just "feel" things? No wonder your kind are so much feared among the mage clans. . . "

There was a slightly awkward silence in the moments that followed, and my own psychic sense told me Maria and opened her eyes to look at the sleeping female mage. "Nothing to fear if you've nothing to hide," she said at last.

The young archer sighed. "I guess so. Goodnight," she said gratefully and pulled her blanket over herself.

I was tired, the day had been long and therefore I gave myself to sleep within moments.


	10. Chapter 10

-1Author's Note: Okay, so here we go. This is going to be broken into a bajillion pieces because I write in so much detail everything turns into a short story. I apologize to some of you that want me to write longer chapters but as a majority people keep telling me they are too long. So I will try not to exceed more than twenty pages at a time, more preferably around 15 or 16. At any rate, just sit back, relax and enjoy the show P And I'm very honored that BranMuffinPower decided to do some fanart for my piece, she's an awesome artist, everyone should drop by her deviantart page at . Thanks everybody for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Diablo universe, Blizzard Entertainment does. I just own my character names.

The Plight of Deckard Cain

Chyemme

I awoke the next morning to the sound of a rooster's crowing. As I wiped the dust from my groggy eyes, I allowed dawn's new light to wash across my face from the crack in the doorway of our tent. Once my eyes were fully open, I surveyed the room. The young Laurella, on the bed beside me was huddled in her covers and only succeeded to become more entangled in them as she subconsciously shifted around. I was encouraged however, that she appeared to look at least somewhat better, there weren't any tear stains on her face or pillow. I had the utmost faith that Scorpious had helped her find some peace with what happened, or it might have been Ryelass as well, or combination of the two. I didn't know. Vendra, whom lie on the cot to Laurella's right was still snoring. Maria, as I expected had already dressed, armored up, and left her empty bed neatly made. I could tell, as I strapped my own armor on that it had to be early still. Leaving my weapons in the tent, I emerged outside. Dew flecked my knee-high red leather boots as I softly treaded on the green morning grass, making my way to Akara's hut. I was going to request the training she had promised for cleansing the Den of Evil.

Upon my arrival, Akara surfaced from her tent with a worried look on her face. She managed a brief smile as she took notice of me.

"Hello my dear. What can I do for you?"

I returned the smile. "Well, I've considered to myself about what sort of training that I wanted you to give me, if you're up to the task, my lady," I said with a courteous and respectful bow.

Akara nodded. "What ever you ask I will do my best to teach you. What skill is it that you wish to learn?"

"Since you are an expert archer, I would request that you teach me how to enhance my arrows with ice," I said honestly.

"Ah, your request is a simple one. It should be easy enough for you to learn, seeing as you already know how to enhance you arrows with fire. Cold is no different. You simply concentrate on the air around you, and with some of your own spirit energy freeze it. You do this by pulling heat out of the air around the arrow. Observe," the old woman said to me and withdrew a bow from were it sat at the edge of one of her walls. The old rogue carefully lifted the bow to her eyes and with expert speed, precision, and surprisingly, strength, she loosed an arrow that soared through the air and began to swirl with white mist. It hit the spot on the fence she had been aiming for with no trouble at all, which suddenly froze, with ice rippling out from the point of impact.

I was impressed that a woman her age could still manage to lift a bow, much less that she had been able to fire one. But then again, this was the High Priestess of the Sightless Eye we were talking about. She was far from some defenseless old woman. " I see," I said bluntly, absorbing what I had just witnessed into memory.

"You try," she said to me, and handed me the weapon and an arrow.

I did as she had done, aiming even for the same spot. I felt for the air around my arrow, and willed it become cold. I fired, and as Akara's had, my arrow burst into ice and smashed directly in the center of the one Akara had fired before me. "That wasn't bad at all," I said with a smile.

"Did you imagine it would be? Your mother spoke to me of your ability to learn quickly. That is why you make such an excellent warrior. You are able to observe and then put it into practice, an admirable skill indeed," the rogue leader said to me with pride.

I blushed a little. That was a high compliment coming from one as respected as her. She smiled some, but then she gave a little sigh.

"You seem distressed, Lady Akara. Kaysha told us last night that something was troubling you." I said recalling yesterday night.

"In my old age, it appears that my feelings are not so easily hidden anymore. I feel a great remorse to be such a burden on you all, but I have another, dire task for your group."

I could tell from the look on her face that whatever she was going to ask was no small request. "My Lady, we have already given you our word that we will help you in whatever way we can, no matter what you ask. What is it that you wish?" I asked.

Akara looked remorseful. "It is my wish that you all be together when I ask of you my request. It will pain some more than others," she said ambiguously. I had no idea what she could be referring to, "and it will pain my heart to say it more than once."

I nodded. "Very well. Is there anything that I can personally see to that will aid you in some way?"

Akara thought to herself, then nodded. "Good Chyemme, would you fetch for me the paladin Scorpious? I believe he is by the riverside bridge, praying."

I nodded once again, and as I turned to leave she stopped me. "Wait, there is another thing which you can do for me, once you have sent Lord Scorpious my way. Would you please find Laurella and give this to her for me?" She asked, laying a small platinum ring with a smoky brown quartz in the middle of my palm. I recognized it as the one Akara had put back into her pouch when she had given all of our party gemstone rings for cleansing the Den of Evil.

"Akara, did you know Laurella was going to be found?" I asked as I looked up, only to find that the old woman was no longer there. Strange . . .if Akara had known that Laurella was going to be found, what else did she know? Inner Sight was a strange thing sometimes, this I knew from personal experience. I could see things in the present, and sometimes in the past, but I could never see the future. Neither could anyone I knew save our Queen. That skill was reserved for the truly powerful. I decided not to dwell on the matter for it would only cause me unrest. I pocketed the ring and began walking to the entrance of the camp. The two rogues on guard duty merely nodded to me as I walked past and the one to the right inclined her head towards the stone bridge ahead.

I followed with my eyes and found Scorpious in his full armor, kneeling by the river's edge. As I approached him I could hear him speaking some strange, but yet oddly beautiful language. All the words seemed to fit perfectly together, not one out of sync. As Scorpious' voice intensified, I noticed his sword take on a subtle, multicolored glow. As he continued to chant and his voice reached a climax, Scorpious plunged his glowing sword into the water up to the hilt. With a final cry he released the energy bound to his sword. Almost in the blink of an eye the rainbow glow had mixed with the entire river up to the horizon, giving it an unparalleled brilliance momentarily. The glow left as soon as it had come, revealing the water to be crystal clear and smoothly flowing as opposed to the murky and stagnant nature it had held before. I held my breath. That was absolutely amazing, he had just worked nothing less than a miracle right in front of my eyes!

Scorpious rose to his feet slowly, and then he noticed me staring at him. "Good morning Chyemme. What can I do for you?"

"Scorpious, that was incredible!" I squeaked in childish excitement. "You just purified the whole river in seconds!"

He chuckled. "There is no work too great for God's hands. Besides, this was more of a creek than a river anyway. Lady Akara informed me that demons had been contaminating the rogues' water supply. I was only to happy to help."

"Are all paladins as modest as you?" I laughed back. He had done an amazing thing and quite a service to the rogues. And still he was not prideful in the slightest, choosing instead to understate his accomplishment.

"To be prideful in oneself is pointless, especially since it is God that lends me my power. Such acts are not a strength I innately have on my own. God deems me worthy to receive such gifts and he could take them away at any time. Without God I am nothing more than a sword-slinger. Though powers are not, I'm still just a man, and not worthy of exaltation in any way, shape, or form." he said with a strong tone of righteousness. I'm sure even the deaf could hear his passion about the God of Zakarum when he spoke it . . . "Now, what is that brought you my way this fine morning?" he asked lightheartedly.

"Lady Akara wishes an audience with you. She seems very distraught to me. I'm guessing she needs to speak with you about something grave," I answered.

He nodded. "Very well then, I will go seek her out immediately," he assured as we walked back toward the encampment gates. The two rogues guards lowered their arrow points to the ground and parted as we passed. "I'm afraid this is where I must leave you," he said politely and took his leave, although not without a smile. That was something that struck me about Scorpious. He smiled a lot and his smile had a way of making things better all around for everyone, save Pircus, no matter the situation.

Left to myself, I left in search of Laurella. I decided to skirt the edge of the fire area as I went my own way back to the tent. Oddly enough, I must have mistaken one tent for another, because soon I ended up in a part of the encampment I had never seen before. I saw a large half-shack much like Charsi's, however this one was lined with all sorts of odd knickknacks. A shout, short man with a coat made of deerskin was hunched over a knapsack stuffed full of items in the corner. I recognized him from last night as the merchant Gheed, whom Warriv had been chasing. I wondered if Warriv had ever caught him?

I saw Gheed remove several quivers that were unmistakably arrows, several pairs of boots, a suit of chain-mail and a bandanna. I looked an awful lot like the one Kaysha had been wearing the day I met her. Gheed in his caution seemed to feel my eyes upon him, and he turned around sharply. His fat face's expression turned into a smile.

"Hello there my dear! What can I do for you?" he said in a voice I could tell with no difficulty was fake. I had absolutely no idea what to say to him, I was almost completely sure the bandanna he had was Kaysha's. Kaysha . . . .oddly enough, my Inner Sight told me that she was near. I heard her voice from behind me.

"GHEED! THE QUESTION WILL BE WHAT AKARA'S HEALING POWERS CAN OR CANNOT DO FOR YOU ONCE I GET THROUGH WITH YOU!" she thundered, upon seeing her bandanna out on the table.

She stormed in front of me toward Gheed with powerful, panther-like strides. Gheed gave a small yelp in terror, dropped the bandanna on the ground and took off running. Kaysha didn't chase him like I expected, but instead she walked over and picked up her belonging off the ground. Then she proceeded to throw all the gear he had been loading onto the table back into the bag. Still mumbling to herself angrily, she turned to me.

"I had nothing to do with that," I said truthfully.

"I didn't say you did, outlander. No one who fought against Blood Raven would do something so cowardly. I know that you're innocent, though I must advice you to stay away from him. People might find you suspicious. It's a good thing for him that Akara's got such a kind heart. I wouldn't have let him stay here to begin with, much less tolerate this recent string of blatant theft. I think she should toss his ass out into the wilderness and let his dishonest ways get him out of trouble from there," she growled.

"What are you going to do about him, then?" I asked.

Kaysha half-laughed at the thought. "Well I was thinking of tying him to a post and letting our rookie archers practice on him with training arrows. I swear to you amazon, that once's he's been hit in certain places so many times, he'll beg us to throw him out of here!"

I pictured Gheed being pelted with soft arrows by little girls and a slight smile caught on my lips. Kaysha resumed her usually strict demeanor.

"Now then amazon, do me a favor. The rogue in your tent, Laurella, send her to me would you? I can sense that you are headed that way anyhow. No need to waste time and effort in sending another scout when someone else is already on an errand there."

I sighed. After defeating Blood Raven I would have thought Kaysha would loosen up a little around us. Perhaps she still felt like we were encroaching upon her position, but that fear would have no basis. Kaysha had to know that our presence here was temporary by now.

"Fine. How do I . . ." I began.

"Walk along the fence to the right until you reach Charsi's forge. You should be able to find your way from there," kasha answered before I could finish my question. Kaysha smirked. "Yes, I knew you were lost. For a practitioner of Inner Sight your thoughts are quite unguarded," she announced before she turned and walked away.

I grimaced. She was right. I'd been so caught up in recent happenings that I had dropped my mind's guard. I would be remedying that little problem from now on. I followed Kaysha's directions and soon came to Charsi's hut. After waving in greeting to the blacksmith, I continued to the tent Maria, Vendra, Laurella, and I were sharing.

I parted the tent flap. Just as I expected, neither Vendra nor Laurella had stirred in the time I was gone. I decided to wake Vendra first, so that she wouldn't be left in the tent by herself unaware of what was going on once Laurella and I left. I cleared my throat and called her name.

"Vendra." She didn't budge. I tried again, louder this time. "Vendra!" She answered me with a snore from underneath her pillow. I was getting ready to shout when I heard the tent flap part again and Sovellis stuck his head in the doorway.

"Is Vendra wake yet?" he asked. I stepped aside so he could see her.

Sovellis chuckled. "You not wake her?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

I sighed. "Is there some secret to waking her that I don't know?"

"Not so much secret, as to say method. You have to know her. Hit where it hurt," he giggled and walked over to her bedside. "Observe," he said with a mischievous twinkle in his dark eyes. In one swift movement, he snatched the top of Vendra's woolen blanket and gave a firm tug. He pulled the entirety of her covers off to expose her tan nightgown and bare, tan flesh. Within the very second, Vendra's entire body gave a fierce shudder and she snapped her eyes wide open.

'What in hell?" she growled like an angry tiger. She shivered again, but the next thing she knew, Sovellis had grabbed her by the ankles and was pulling her off her bed. The grouchy sorceress ungracefully found her feet, wobbling to and fro. She snapped at Sovellis. "You moron, can you not see that I was sleeping!? Damn it Sovellis, GET OUT I'M NOT EVEN DRESSED YET!!" she shrieked in horror, suddenly realizing that she was still in her underclothes. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to cover up.

Sovellis on the other hand, just stood there rooted to the spot laughing. "Well that just teach you to not sleep so much. Chyemme been trying to wake you for quite some time.

Vendra was a little less than amused. "DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? I SAID OUT!" She roared. I felt the room become warm and I saw Vendra's eye flash a shade of pure white. Twin bolts of lightening sprang from them and impacted the ground at Sovellis' feet. The large, black mage jumped back in surprise and looked up at her. Vendra's eyes were still glowing, her pupils had been enveloped in the gleam.

"Vendra . . ."

"OUT!" her eyes crackled with lightening in warning.

Sovellis raised his hands up in surrender and began backing away slowly.

"MOVE FASTER!" she shrieked and another pair of lightening bolts absorbed into the ground at the mage's feet. Vendra was not pleased when he continued to stare at her and before I knew what was happening she had begun to chase Sovellis out of the tent, zapping lightening at his heels. She didn't stop, even when I yelled out after her,

"Vendra! Wait! Your robes!" All I could hear of the pair before they vanished from earshot was Sovellis shouting,

"I know you not morning person!" This was followed by a buzzing sound and a loud "OUCH!"

I shook my head and laughed.

"They remind me so much of brother and sister," came a small, western voice.

I glanced over to find Laurella sitting up on her cot. I chuckled again.

"Me too. A young brother and sister. I'll bet she'll only stop chasing him when she realizes that she's still half naked."

Laurella's lips reflected glimpses of a smile, but like before they could not yet form the whole gesture.

"Did they wake you?" I asked.

She nodded. "Well, more specifically Lady Vendra's shouting, but all the same," she sighed. "Is Lady Vendra always like that to everyone?" she asked suddenly.

"Well," I began, "she can be a little cold at first, but when you've known her for a while, you learn to see past her rough edges. As for zapping people, I've only seen her reserve that punishment for Sovellis in general and Piricus out of irritation."

"Piricus? He's the white-headed necromancer, right?" she asked uncertainly and I nodded. "He seems to be the coldest one of all," she said quietly.

"It's true that he doesn't trust anybody and that he's quite bitter. It's best to take him in small doses," I said truthfully.

"He sends shivers down my spine. I can feel his death energies . . . ." she said with a shake.

"He's not evil, if that's what you're driving at. Just dark. There is a difference," I said in his defense before I even realized what I was doing. Laurella must have caught on.

"Do you care about him?" she asked bluntly.

I closed my eyes. "I just don't want people to misunderstand him. I know what it's like to be misunderstood," I answered at last.

"Fair enough," she replied.

"By the way, Kaysha wants to see you soon and Akara told me to give you this," I added as I reached into one of my belt pouches and removed the ring.

With an odd expression, Laurella carefully picked up and examined the jewelry.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her, perplexed. I couldn't imagine Akara giving anyone something dangerous, especially a sister of her own order.

Laurella gazed up at me through wide, silver eyes. "Lady Akara bid you give this to me?" she asked in what I thought was affection for the old woman.

I nodded, "Yes, it was one of ten she had in a small pouch. Every member of our part that helped to cleanse the Den of Evil received one." I flexed my right index finger so that my sapphire ring sparkled.

Laurella actually smiled, e true thing this time, brief though it was. Placing the ring on her finger she blushed slightly. "What an honor! This must mean . . .I must thank Lady Akara!" She was instantly on her feet. "Thank you Chyemme!" she called from the doorway as she jogged gracefully from view still wearing the same armor I had seen on her yesterday. I would have thought giving her better equipment would be Lady Akara's first priority. And it seemed to me that everyone around here knew things I didn't.

I left the tent once more, this time taking my weaponry with me and placing each weapon in the appropriate holster or sling. I strapped my javelins to my back in a bundle and carried my short spear. I decided, for lack of better things to do, to try and find Maria. Perhaps she, with her assassin skills, would be able to tell me more about what was disturbing Lady Akara and what Laurella had been so happy about just now. I figured I'd start back at the campfire. On my way, I saw Cloudyous squatting down as he started untying a leather strap from a large chest at the base of a pole. I thought to greet him, but I saw that he was busy rummaging through his trunk, intently seeking something.

I hesitated however, as I heard whine from directly behind me. I turned to see Cloudyous' wolf, Belthem sitting there wagging his thick, grey-white tail. Belthem proceeded to walk up to me and licked the knuckles exposed around my grip on my short spear. I relinquished my middle and pointer fingers from their hold on my weapon and used them instead to scratch him behind the ears. By this time, Cloudyous looked up.

"Oh, hello, Chyemme. I didn't see you, otherwise I would have stopped Belthem from bothering you. I say, he must really, really like you. I've never seen him take someone this quickly before. That right there says a lot of good things about you. Wolves can sense a person's character, feelings, motives and so much more. And Belthem is special in and of himself. He's quite intelligent, even for a wolf, and trust me, as a druid I've seen my fair share of them," he said with a grin.

I smiled. "don't worry about Belthem, he doesn't bother me at all. Actually, I like seeing him. He reminds me of the jungle dogs of my homeland. My mother used to keep a couple to act as temple guards. I used to play with them all the time when I was little," I reminisced to Cloudyous while I continued to scratch Belthem's ears. "Sorry to bore you with my reverie," I remarked apologetically.

"Oh, no. Actually that's quite interesting. Temple guards you say? That would take a lot of discipline," he remarked.

"Yes, however they were nowhere near as wild as Belthem, and yet, not so tame either. I'm sorry, that didn't make any sense did it?" I laughed.

Cloudyous smiled back at me. "Actually it did. You're right you know. Belthem isn't domesticated, yet he is calm. It's a druid's relationship with nature that allows us to be so close to animals, such as me to Belthem. Most people misunderstand that Belthem is my friend, and not my pet. He came with me here of his own free will. That's why he's so calm. He wants to be here, and because he is my friend and not a pet, he is free to leave anytime he likes. This maintains respect between us, and that is key. We respect each other, and that's why we're able to understand each other, no matter what the differences between our species may be," he explained.

"How is it that you can speak to trees and animals? Is it a gift that you have to born with?" I asked in fascination, vaguely recalling something he had told us about it right before we cleansed the Den of Evil.

Cloudyous rubbed his orange and white goatee as he answered, "All life finds roots in nature. Therefore as humans, all of us are born with the gift of primal speech. You only have to go back to your roots to unearth your gifts."

"So then, it's something learned?" I asked.

"Yes. When you spend time immersed in nature and truly understand that all things share a similar life force, then, since we have all come from the same origin, talking with plants, wind and animals becomes like second nature. I should point out that nature is like getting to know a person. Every single living species is like an individual person. I can't talk to everything, only the founder of our order could, and he is long since gone. You can say that I am only fluent in a few types of languages. It just takes a while and a fierce study to learn even one, truth be told.

I was distracted by the ruffling of feathers and the beating of wings. When I glanced over, Cloudyous' raven had landed gracefully on his shoulder after dropping something flat and lustrous into his hand. Cloudyous let out a sigh and shook his head in amazement. He reached over his left shoulder and used two of his forefingers to stroke the glossy, ebony chest feathers of his companion.

"Ah. Thank you Bibo. I have been searching for this. I was deathly afraid that I had misplaced it."

The raven gave a contented chirp as if it understood then began picking at Cloudyous' fiercely orange hair affectionately. Cloudyous held the object up into the sunlight to get a better look at it, as if checking it for something. It was semi-metallic, had a pearly texture, and was completely flat. The whole thing was attached to a black sinew cord.

"You were looking for that? What does it do? It looks like a charm to me."

"Close. It's a rune. It really doesn't do much. I just wear it for luck. I know, luck is for fools," he said quickly and rather embarrassedly.

I shook my head. "No it's not. We can always use any luck that comes our way. What makes the rune lucky, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was a graduation gift from Tur Dulra, my druid college and it's one of a kind. The great mother oak, Glor-An-Fhaidha, whose wisdom had guided countless generations of druids, asked the elders that this necklace should be made especially for me, with its base to be made from wood out of her highest branch. She said that in carrying a part of her with me, I carried her favor and protection wherever I went. Now you can see why I was panicking just now when I thought I had lost it. That was until I remembered I had given it to Bibo before the battle with Blood Raven to guard it," he replied.

"The rune is made of wood? That's not a natural color for a tree," I pointed out. "And you named your raven Bibo. Is that after the amazon goddess Athulua's owl familiar?"

Cloudyous nodded. "I needed to give her a name, one that I can speak more easily. She was honored when I gave her that one. It has the legacy of wisdom and strength. And as for Glor-An-Fhaidha, she is the oldest tree in the Sanctuary. She was born before the first man ever walked the earth. It should come as no surprise that she is unlike any tree we have on this plane of existence now. She is entirely silvery like the piece of her bark you see here. I guess when you think about it, it's not that different from an elderly human whose grey hair is ripe with age."

He considered to himself for a moment. "Would you like to see it? If Belthem trusts you so, I think it would be fine," he asked, extending the rune out to me.

I felt honored that Cloudyous would trust me enough to even let me touch something that precious. I almost didn't take it, but I knew to refuse would be of great offense to him. I hesitantly stretched out my hand and gently removed the rune from his palm. Almost instantaneously I felt my whole body become alive with vibrations of pure, wild energy.

Suddenly, the sight of Cloudyous' face gave way to a view of the largest tree I had ever laid eyes upon. It was so tall, that I could not spy the top. Its branches were so long that you could stretch over ten large buildings across them from end to end. They were so thick in my opinion they could hold over fifty men of Alminus' weight and stature without folding under the weight. And even its lowest branch fountained with fresh, vibrant green canopy. As a ray of sunlight pierced through the rest of the dense forest that surrounded me, it caught on the trunk of the enormous tree. A blinding, silvery gleam illuminated the area. It was if the tree could have been made entirely out of the precious metal.

Then I felt it . . . .a feeling of warmth, wisdom, and timeless age. I felt suspended in time, like not even one moment was passing. Even if one had, it would have been pathetically insignificant, like unto the blinking of an eye. If I could guess what this feeling was, I would have to answer something a lot like eternity. With age comes wisdom and experience, it is said, and I felt an overwhelming sense of both. It was if I could reach out into a vast trove of knowledge. Anything from the ages that I desired to know, I could discover the information from a firsthand source. My teacher had the experience and was offering the lessons to me. All I had to give was patience. She wanted me to understand, and when I did, she wanted me to share that understanding with others. With understanding comes respect, she was saying, not unlike what Scorpious and I had spoken of not that long ago. Respect prevented violence from misunderstandings, jealousy, and judgment. She wanted to protect me . . . .protect me from all those things, she was like unto my mother. She knew what sorrow, pain, and torment those things brought. She understood me. She loved me like a sibling, like a child . . . .she didn't want me to suffer, she wanted me to stay with her. Stay with her here on Sanctuary. She would even fight for my life to protect me from evil. She would break her serene title. She would defend those fighting for her cause. . .

Just as quickly as my third sight had taken over, it relinquished its hold on me. What felt like forever had only been mere moments in actuality. Cloudyous' face loomed slowly back into view. Shaking my vision off I handed the carved piece of wood back to him with a question, and a remark.

"I'd say that rune does a little more than act as a good luck charm. She definitely watches over you, Cloudyous. I saw her. And I felt her soul . . .I've never been exposed to anything like her before. She defends you as nature's champion. What does that rune carved into the wood mean?"

"Ah. The rune is called Guarna. It is the symbol of druidism and Caoi Dulra, the name druids give to perfect harmony with nature. In Scosglen, the symbol has become our crest, our banner. It is the personification of everything we believe in. It's like the cross Scorpious bears on his armor. So, your Inner Sight allowed you to see Glor-An-Fhaidha? That's impressive. She normally shields herself from prying psychic eyes, not to say that you were venturing somewhere uninvited. She chooses who she lets see her in that manner, though few are honored with that privilege."

"Really? I didn't just see her. I felt her. Cloudyous, I felt the heart of a tree . . . .Your mentors were right. In carrying this small piece of her, you are connected to the real thing no matter how physically far away you are. Though, I'm sure I'm not the only non-druid to ever see her. She wants everyone to understand, not just druids," I admitted.

Cloudyous crossed his arms over his chest and smiled broadly. "To not only see, but to feel as well? You're too modest Chyemme. What you've just done is no small task. Even some druids never fully comprehend what she says. For you to have heard her as clearly as I did, says a lot about you. Clearly, she thinks you will accomplish great things. Though, you are correct. You are not the only one outside the druid class to have seen the mother tree. But, the number is few. I can probably could count them with only my fingers," he admitted.

"You're kidding right? There's no way that I am that powerful," I said defensively. I wasn't sure I believed what he was telling me.

"Maybe you are, but you just don't know it yet. Remember, even Fiacla-Gear, the founder of the druidic way, was a barbarian of Arreat in the beginning. There are several people that have seen the tree that you might know of. The lord of necromancers, Lord Rathma once saw her and so did the great mage, Tal Rasha. Someone else saw her too that you know personally," Cloudyous said with a grin.

"Who?" I asked curiously.

"Lady Akara. Why do you think I hold her in such high regards, other than the fact she is my elder and my hostess?"

"I had no idea. This has been a day of strange happenings already and it's barely the seventh hour," I said in shock.

"I wouldn't worry about it, I won't hold you up to Lord Rathma's or Tal Rasha's standards," he teased lightheartedly. "--Oh, thank you Bibo-- and good morning Maria," Cloudyous announced as he spotted Maria advancing toward us and his raven tucked a stray lock of his hair behind his ear with her beak.

"Good morning Cloudyous, Chyemme," she answered with a nod to each of us. "Akara and Scorpious request our presence," she said simply.

Cloudyous nodded in acknowledgement. "Aye. It could be me, but she seemed greatly stressed over something."

"I agree, I was on my way to find you, Maria, when I ran into Cloudyous. I figured you seem to be pretty well in the loop of things, maybe you could tell us what's going on?" I said, putting my question on her ears. "I know assassins have their own mind powers," I added. "And besides that," I continued, "You hold close council with Scorpious, whom Akara has taken into her confidence."

Maria sighed, seemingly burying some emotion. "You know as well as I do Chyemme that Scorpious always keeps his honored word. He has sworn to silence about whatever Akara confides to him. As for my assassin vision, I am the same as you. I can't see into Akara's mind either. Akara is the High Priestess of the Sightless Eye, if she couldn't defend her mind impenetrably I'd question the strength of this sisterhood. Remember also that psychic senses develop with age. You and I are still young. It should come as no surprise that she might be able to see far into the future. A priestess that is a seer is a very powerful combination indeed," she said to me.

I nodded and blushed some. I couldn't believe I'd even asked such a stupid question, especially when the answer was as plain as day.

"Why? Is something about Akara troubling you other than he recent disposition?" she asked back.

"No, no. I know she is a good soul," I said looking directly at Cloudyous whom nodded, "But if she can tell what's going to happen what exactly does she know? What else is there that's she's keeping from us?"

"I see how that could be unnerving, but remember everything happens for a reason," Cloudyous began, "If Akara were to tell us something that would happen, the course of fate might change. For better or for worse. No one would know."

I locked eyes with Maria briefly, which gave me no clue as to what she was feeling. She, like Akara, had a way of locking her mind down. "Still, it is a high danger when one possess such power," Maria said quietly. This time, her tone gave her away. I could tell by her tone that she too was disturbed by Akara's secrets about the future. But it was only in her tone. Maria would never admit that something frightened or unnerved her. If she did, she might as well kill herself in her eyes. Fear made them weak. In mine, it would make her more human than the cold, calculated killer Vendra obviously saw in her. I had to admit, I hadn't quite shaken that conversation yet, even though I was not personally involved. As of this moment, I wasn't sure what to think about her.

The three of us walked through the camp and made our way to Akara's tent with a little casual conversation between me and Cloudyous. Maria apparently had retreated to her thoughts, though she did give an occasional gesture that she was listening in. Cloudyous talked about what type of wood the enclosing fence was made of and I talked about the trees on my home isle, and then we began discussing wooden weapons.

As we arrived, everyone but Vendra was already present.

"Ah, having a slumber party while the rest of us are wasting our good time waiting for you amazon?" Piricus said grouchily from where he leaned against the encampment fence in his quilted armor.

"Not even the seventh hour and already insults are flying. It's going to be another long day," I sighed. Piricus, for love of Zerae was never a morning person.

"At least you have your wits about you Piricus. We wouldn't want anything to strike while you're not awake," Ryelass muttered in contempt.

Piricus cocked one white eyebrow. "What was that warrior? I'm sure you weren't mocking me, especially when I possess the capability to bring down a large army on your abnormally inflated head in an instant," Piricus taunted in a falsely sweet tone.

Ryelass openly scowled, but was restrained from further conflict by a pat on the shoulder and a "let it go" glance from his friend Alminus. I heard a deep groan. I turned to see Sovellis trying to pat down his unruly afro of hair. I stifled my laughter at the sight by quickly turning away and covering my mouth.

Cloudyous, whom had also noticed Sovellis, was smirking hardily. Quite suddenly, Scorpious materialized from around the corner, with Akara not far behind him. The expressions they wore were identical. Both displayed feelings of dread. Scorpious straitened himself, then looked directly at us, as he supported Akara on his arm. Both of them reached us not soon after, Akara's weary eyes locked on each pair of ours, respectively in turn. I vaguely wondered where Kaysha had gone, it was normally her that was supported Akara the way Scorpious was doing now. With a nod from the noble holy knight, she addressed us with a voice full of concern and hesitation.

"I want to make perfectly clear," she began, "That I hate more than anything to put people into harm's way. Especially when those people have already done more than their fair share to help us. Even though I have known all of you for only a short period of time, already you are as dear to my heart as one of my sisters would be. That is why it is with great remorse that I ask of you to undertake an immensely dangerous, but equally important quest. It is clear that we are facing an evil difficult to comprehend, let alone combat. There is--"

"What did I miss?" Vendra asked loudly as she jogged into view in her purple robes. She was met by steely stares from most of us.

Akara sighed. "Vendra, my dear, come and have a seat. I should have checked to ensure that you were all here before I began. I'm afraid that in my state of mind, I simply have overlooked some small things."

Vendra blushed in embarrassment. "Forgive me, Lady Akara. I didn't mean to intterupt you. I apologize for being late."

"Quite alright my dear. I was just explaining about a mission I have need of you to undertake, should you choose to accept."

Vendra nodded and was seated. Akara cleared her throat. "Some of you may chose not to go on such a journey," she said clearly looking at Ryelass, "And I will understand. It is just my request and would only serve to bring wisdom, as well as help out an old friend in great need. There is but one Horadrim Sage, his name is Deckard Cain. Perhaps if you rescue him, he would be able to further advise you. You must venture into Tristram and find him. I pray that he still lives . . ."

"Deckard Cain!? I know him! Why would you pray that he still lives!? Has something happened in Tristram? I was on my journey there before the demons of Andariel barred the trails!" Ryelass burst out suddenly.

I cringed, with an outburst like that, he obviously was completely unaware of what had recently transpired there. I wasn't the only one with an uncomfortable look on my face. Vendra and Sovellis looked concerned. Cloudyous and Maria looked at him with pity, and Scorpious looked on him with sorrow. Piricus just looked on in apathy and Alminus had a confused, blank look upon his face. Akara fell deathly silent, and for moments no one spoke at all.

"Well!?" Ryelass demanded fiercely.

The person that spoke first was far from the best. He was, in my opinion, the worst one to hear it from.

"Oh, you mean you don't know, warrior? I would suspect that one would know all about that even if they weren't from there," he said coldly, but with utter seriousness in his tone.

Cloudyous cut him off quickly. "Piricus, do not, as I perceive you are about to, mock and taint the memory of those that have lived and died there!"

Piricus glared at him icily. "And did Trag Oul disintegrate and leave the world to you? I have a right to say what I damn well please, druid. But, I am please to inform you that you are indeed incorrect, smartass. I'm sure not all of Tristram's residents were as unbelievably thick as the warrior. I'm sure some of them realized they could not fight with the powers of death and the demonic and decided to relocate themselves somewhere far safer. And yes, druid, I actually do hold respect for some people. Mostly those with the intelligence to know when they are outmatched," he said without emotion.

Ryelass looked livid. "Memory? Of who? Those that died fighting Diablo? What are you people talking about!? What has happened to my home!? You!" he rounded on Piricus, "start talking or I'll kill you!" he shouted, and ran over to Piricus, grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him violently.

Piricus grabbed Ryelass by the collar of his undershirt and pulled him dangerously close to his face. "Warrior!" he hissed, "I swear by Trag Oul that if you ever dare touch me again I will send you to join your neighbors! I don't by what luck you have lived this long, but if all your townsfolk were as senseless as you, it's not a wonder that they all died!" He spat and shoved Ryelass so roughly away from him that the warrior lost his balance fell onto the ground. Piricus snarled, "In fact--"

Maria stepped in front of Ryelass quickly, and pulled him to his feet. She turned around to face Piricus, and raised a katar level with his eyes. "Don't!" she growled dangerously.

"Or you'll do what exactly? Kill me? Good luck with that, bitch," he said with a sadistic smile.

Maria's look was absolutely sour. "One day, I actually might. Ryelass," she said lowering her katar and turning back to look at him, though she did keep one eye on Piricus, "I request a word with you in private. Obviously, Piricus is not the best person to tell you this," she said matter-of-factly. "Alminus, are you coming as well?" She asked quietly.

The large warrior nodded wordlessly. Alminus rose soundlessly with a solemn expression and joined Maria and Ryelass as they walked around the corner and out of earshot.

The rest of us waited for them to return. No one dared to speak, but we all exchanged glances with one another. I looked to Scorpious, whose deep brown eyes told me as plainly as if he had actually spoken, that he knew what kind of pain Ryelass was about to be in. I didn't even have to guess what Piricus was looking at, I knew he was staring at me plain as day. His deep green eyes made me shiver, and without realizing it, I locked my gaze on him. He raised one eyebrow slightly, with the faintest traces of a cruel smile playing at his lips. He knew that his words had cut Ryelass as deeply as if he had actually stabbed him with his dagger, and he was pleased. I guess he saw what he had just done as vengeance. I saw it as incredibly sadistic. I know it reflected in my gaze, because he gave me a "that's what he gets for messing with me" glare.

I sharply looked away. God forbid I have saved a demon. There were times I believed that Piricus couldn't possibly be all human. Why on Sanctuary would he choose to avenge his honor on Ryelass that way? I tried to put the sickening feeling aside. I was instantly granted my reprieve. Maria remerged from behind the corner looking quite grim. She was followed closely by an equally serious Alminus and a very somber looking Ryelass. He looked to me like he had been struck by lightening. The shock was apparent all over his face.

Ryelass kept shaking his head before he stopped walking and closed his eyes, obviously trying to regain himself. He clenched his left fist into a ball and it began to shake at his side. Alminus placed a hand gingerly on his shoulder and tapped him softly. Ryelass opened his eyes to look at him with an expression I couldn't read. Alminus quickly ushered him to the nearest log, where they both took a seat. Ryelass looked down, staring intently at the ground.

Akara looked on to him in sympathy. "Do you wish me to continue, Lord Ryelass?"

He didn't speak a word or look up, but he waved her one with one hand. Akara nodded silently.

"Tristram is too far to journey by foot. Cain would likely be dead by the time you arrived. However, I know of a magic portal that could take you there in an instant. To open it, one must stand within the circle of Cairn Stones and touch them in a certain order. The proper order can be found in the runes written upon the bark of the Tree of Inifuss. You must find the sacred tree and bring me back its bark. I will translate the runes to unlock the stones' mystic patterns. You can find the Cairn Stones in the Stony Field, but beware our corrupted sisters that will undoubtedly endeavor to bar you way. The Tree of Inifuss is in a place called the Dark Wood. You can reach the Dark Wood thorough an underground passage, and since you are strangers to our lands, and in the interest of saving time, I would like to send one of our own rogues to guide you. Kaysha has placed several of our best warriors at your disposal, but I have sole jurisdiction over which would be best suited for your task. I ask that you please take Sister Laurella with you in your travels. She alone knows the lands best as they have changed. Due to her capture, she has seen many of the deepest parts of the area that we haven't. Most of our sisters have only become familiar with the insides of these walls as of late. Laurella was lead by demons through the land as they have changed them."

"Do you think it wise to send her out again so soon after such a traumatic event?" Cloudyous asked in concern.

Akara nodded. "I do not doubt her strength, Lord Cloudyous. I have spoken with her, felt her mind, and we can trust her to hold. She, herself, asked me for permission to accompany you. She greatly desires the chance to help you, for the debt of rescuing her."

"I fear we cause her great loss, my lady," Sovellis said remorsefully.

"She might could have saved her sister if she had been given more time," Vendra said with guilt.

"Blood Raven was beyond all hope. I have accepted that fact. Her soul was too far gone in the shadows. She ceased to be Celeste, and only a shell animated by a monster remained. The only way to save her was to kill her. It set her spirit free from the accursed flesh that bound her to darkness," came the quiet voice from behind us. We turned to see Laurella, clad in brand-new rogue armor. However instead of being quilted, her armor was made of red leather, like mine. She had been fully equipped for travel, including new, wholesome boots, shoulder armor, and a strange cherry wood crossbow. I immediate recognized it in alarm. It was the one Blood Raven had wielded against us.

Maria too, flinched upon the sight of the object. "Laurella, that crossbow may yet hold some corruptive energies. You'd best not use it," she remarked in earnest.

Laurella nodded in acknowledgement. "Lady Akara has purified the weapon. That is why it is no longer black," she explained. "It is safe, Maria, but feel free to double-check it if you feel so inclined," the young rogue replied as she offered up her crossbow. Maria eyed in suspiciously. She didn't touch it, but rather ran her hands over top of the surface.

"Forgive me, Lady Akara, I do not mean to second-guess you, however it is best that something potentially dangerous is looked over time and time again by more than one person. Just to be cautious. I'd feel responsible and utterly deplorable if something happened to Laurella that I could have prevented," she explained while she assertively checked the weapon. I could feel strange energies from her. It must have been the assassin equivalent of Inner Sight.

"It is perfectly alright Maria, your concern is well justified. And you idea is a good one," she replied.

Maria concentrated on the weapon intently, before she actually picked it up and held it up to the morning sun. She nodded at me.

"Chyemme, I think you should check it too. I couldn't find anything, but a third opinion on this matter would be welcome," she requested and offered the crossbow to me.

"I'd trust her judgment over yours any day, assassin. She is slightly more competent, but not by much," Piricus said, managing to turn what I thought was a compliment into an insult as well. "The rogue should be old enough to understand the risk she is taking by clinging emotionally to a demon's weaponry," Piricus said pointedly.

"Leave them alone, jackass. Don't speak out about something you have no knowledge about. It makes you look like more of an idiot than you already are," Vendra snapped.

I expected Piricus to retaliate, but he just laughed. "Oh, but I do understand," he replied darkly. "I alone see things the way they really are. I don't sugarcoat things for people, I tell it like it is. I know the forces that it takes to turn someone to the shadows of death. I've used them before."

Laurella looked to him with a subliminal expression of horror and fear. That was a mistake. Piricus seemed to have a primal instinct in the fact that he could pick up even the slightest traces of fear.

"Scared, rogue?" he asked maliciously.

She stood her ground. "Do you actually torment people that way? There is no such power that God should enable a man to possess," she stated boldly.

Piricus walked over to her and she quickly averted her eyes. His gaze was like being smacked with hard steel, and I knew that from experience. With one pale finger that he placed under her chin, to force her to look at him, he leaned down and whispered in her ear,

"I'll tell you like I tell everyone else. God does not exist. There is only death beyond life. And I have power over both. I have the powers that you've only dreamed about in your worst nightmares."

Laurella stepped back quickly and pushed his hand away. Piricus smirked. He absolutely thrived on people's fear of him. I was about to tell him to stop, but apparently the thought was already on Alminus' mind.

"For God's sake, Piricus leaver ur alone. Haven't ya done enough damage already?" he growled in anger.

Piricus yawned and casually glanced to Alminus. "Watch it, barbarian oaf," he drawled dangerously, "I'm not above using those powers on people that piss me off. And you never know when you might catch me on an off day. Trag Oul only knows what could happen then." Piricus suddenly turned around at the waist and made a horrid face at Laurella, whom had been gazing at him in horror. Her flame-colored hair tied up in a ponytail fluttered in the air as the startled rogue feel backwards onto the ground. Piricus burst out openly laughing.

"Oh girl, if that's all it takes to scare you, then you will completely petrified by the end of that day! Our guide here as at best, a child. We are being lead by a frightened little girl!"

Ryelass snapped his head and his gaze up and glared at Piricus most icily. The fire in his eyes only served to magnify the potency with which he delivered his message.

"Leave her alone, snake! She may be young, but heaven knows she's brave enough to match any one here and then some! Could you destroy your own family to save the lives of people you didn't know? Oh wait, I forget you don't have a family. Or maybe it is that you do, but I'll bet they probably hate you just as much as the rest of us do. Hold your tongue, or I'll cut it out. I'm the one that's likely to fly off the handle today, and heaven knows nobody here would stop me," he said forcibly.

Again, I expected Piricus to say something snide, but instead he rolled his eyes. " Oh, have a little fight in you, do we? Have it your way, warrior. But when the child becomes scared witless and we are running around in circles in a demonic land with merry a clue as to where we're going, I will kill you before I hear you complain," he said in amusement and turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Vendra called after him reprehensibly.

"Sorceress, what I do is none of your business. Frankly, I'm on my way to the waypoint, I've lingered here long enough," he said snidely.

Vendra scowled as he rounded the bend. Scorpious also frowned.

"He's right. We have all stayed here too long. We'd better leave soon, or it will be noon before we even set forth on our journey. Thank you, Lady Akara, for your wisdom," he said with a courteous bow. "We will return shortly, with Deckard Cain."


	11. Chapter 11

-1The Underground Passage

Chyemme

One by one, the party rose from their respective seats and followed in Piricus' path. Only Maria, Laurella, and myself remained. Maria urged us to follow quickly and left. I went to work strait away, focusing my Inner Sight on the weapon in my hands. I searched for any traces of dark, malevolent energies. I could feel none. As I handed Laurella back the weapon, in my last moments of physical contact with it, my auditory sense was no longer my own.

Though I could see clearly around me, I was in the Rogue Encampment, with Laurella in front of me, the sounds I heard clearly were out of place. I was seeing one thing, and hearing another. Two dominant voices boomed in my ears, amidst a sea of noise. One was feminine. It was light and forceful at the same time, with a deep western accent. The other was like no voice on earth. It too was female, from my reckoning, but was deep, dark, and clearly not human. The voice echoed like a violent splash in a pond, it encased me in dread.

"Foul Queen! You shall not triumph here! This is a land of warriors!" the human voice shouted.

"_**WARRIORS? AH YES, MINE AND THE MASTER'S**_." the deep voice cackled.

"Some of our sisters may have fallen, but there will always be those who defy you, like me, Ormus and Marcus!" the human voice persisted.

_**"DEFY ME YOU VERY WELL MAY. BUT NOT THE MASTER. IN FACT, CELESTE, I HAVE SEEN MARCUS AS OF RECENTLY. NOBLY HE RENDERS MY MASTER A GREAT SERVICE!" **_came the voice that undoubtedly I now knew to be Andariel, the Demon Queen herself.

"YOU LIE!" the human screeched in rage. "IT CAN'T BE! WE DESTROYED YOUR MASTER!"

As I was used to by now, as soon as it started, the vision stopped, leaving me with fragments of some intangible event that I would have to use my imagination to put the pieces together . . . I blinked, and so did Laurella, as she uncertainly received her crossbow back.

"What is it Chyemme? Is something wrong? You had a strange look on your face." Her grey eyes fixated on me in concern.

I shook my head. "It's nothing, don't worry. Your crossbow is fine. We should hurry before we fall too far behind the others," I replied. For some reason, I felt strongly that I should keep what I had just heard to myself. After all, I could be wrong, and it would undoubtedly disturb Laurella. But, I was completely certain that it had been the voice of Celeste, the Blood Raven, I had heard. It was kind of strange I thought, to hear her human voice instead of the demonic screeching I had been introduced to. Anyway, whatever this recent bout of sounds had been, it was best to put them aside. I had other things to worry about right now, like the more important task of aiding to rescue Deckard Cain.

Laurella and I walked together to the waypoint. As she stepped into the ring of blue fire, she asked me, "Why does Piricus act so cruel?"

I shook my head. "It's his way of scaring you into leaving him alone. If you don't like him, then you won't bother him. At least, I'm fairly certain that's the way he sees it. I don't know for sure, seeing as I'm not him. Although, when he seeks vengeance against someone, yes, apparently he can be quite cruel."

Laurella managed a brief nod before dissolving into the flames. Once the base was clear, I stepped onto the magic circle and closed my eyes, envisioning the lonely, desolate Cold Plains. In an instant I felt my whole body begin to spin, and that all to familiar gut-wrenching lurch. The next thing I knew, I had tumbled into the waiting arms of Scorpious.

"Are you alright, Chyemme?" he said softly as I regained my balance.

"Yes, but I'm still not used to be hurled around like that," I muttered. Alminus gave a murmur of agreement from where he stood off to the side, leaned against his axe. With a pat on the arm, Scorpious released me.

"Flavie said yesterday that the right fork in the road will take us to the Stony Field," Vendra reminded.

"Shall we?" Scorpious suggested as he waved his hand over to the nearby pathway. Thankfully it was broad daylight when we set forth onto the path before us, although as a measure of cautiousness, light or no, we all had our weapons drawn and ready to use. Scorpious walked up to stand beside Laurella in the lead, and Piricus brought up the rear. My guess was that this was to put as much distance between himself and Scorpious as possible. The other pleasant thing besides the daylight was that all of us seemed to walk with renewed vigor, sleep had done us all good. We didn't encounter any immediate problems as we stepped onto the worn, dirt pathway. Our only companion was the ever-present icy wind.

"Keep alert," Maria warned, "There is no possible way in hell that we have killed all the corrupted rogues, so the only question is not if they're present, the question is where."

Despite Maria's warning, the trip proceeded smoothly without commotion. We reached the fork in the road in a little under an hour. As we neared the crossroads we had passed only yesterday, I had a strange feeling of Déjà vu. Sure enough, my Inner Sight gave a twinge just in time for me to turn and see dead, rotting flesh dangling off the body of an undead zombie, which was sauntering up right behind Vendra. Maria, as usual, noticed as well at about the same time I did.

"Vendra! Watch out behind you!" I yelled loudly. She appeared somewhat stunned by the break in the silence.

"Huh? EEK!" she squealed in disgust as she turned around. More on reflex than anything, she swung her short staff and caught the creature across the midriff.

Sovellis dispatched an ice spire, which embedded itself into the monster's forehead and rendered it lifeless.

Vendra jumped as the thing's hand flopped onto the ground next to her feet. "We missed one," she said, peeved.

We continued on our way, taking the right side of the fork this time around. While still maintaining her position as our guide, she motioned Ryelass over to her and began speaking with him about what had happened back at the encampment. I however, was invoked into my own conversation by a sly voice from behind me.

"You shouldn't eavesdrop amazon, it's not polite," chided a voice of mockery.

I sighed deeply. "I cannot help but overhear them when they are not quite six feet in front of me Piricus. I'm surprised Ryelass is even speaking after what you had the cold audacity to convey to him this morning. I can understand that you sought a childish comeback for your never-ending battle of words. I can also understand that you may have a deeper reason for disliking Ryelass, but nothing, I repeat, _nothing_ gives you the right to strike at another human being that way. I mean, just because you want to be left alone? By Zerae Piricus, there is a simple way to do that. You just say _leave me alone_," I said, releasing my torrent of opinions. I expected him to say something snide, but I could never have guessed what he said next.

"By that logic, what gives him the right to strike at me? To take cheap shots on my honor too? Things don't work that way, amazon. It's a dog eat dog world out here. You would never be able to comprehend what reality is actually comprised of with the sheltered life you lived with mommy on your forsaken, isolated little island. The fittest survive and sometimes you have to kill or be killed. I've encountered so many arrogant beings in my short time on this plane of existence that are unfit for the gift of life, or even the gift of death . . . ."

I was deeply and utterly taken by a sense of surprise, and one of anger. "What did you just say? Piricus, I understand life may be difficult for you, but you are still human! Act like it! Show some compassion! Not everyone is out to get you, and if they are, you have brought that on yourself with your own actions! What's more, I think you're passing on the tradition of misunderstanding you so hate to receive from others on Ryelass because someone like him wronged you in the past. With you, it's always vengeance. You want to get even with Ryelass and everyone like him. You're judging him and whoever else started this mess by a stereotypical standard. In fact, your entire agenda, as you called it on the amazon isles, has been nothing but a path of vengeance. You want revenge on the demons, which is understandable, but you also want it on Ryelass, Vendra, and most especially Scorpious, all of whom you've known for less than a month!"

"Maybe amazon, but trust me, people are all the same. I don't have to personally know them to tell you how they will act. They all fear what they don't understand."

"Hypocrite. You complain that people misunderstand you, and yet you don't take the time to try and understand them either. In passing judgment on people as a whole, you're committing the same sin they are." I sighed in frustration.

"In my experience, I find it most effective to fight fire with fire, and sometimes fight fire with a blaze of inferno. I can give more than what I get, and that keeps me on top of things," he said simply.

"So trying to stay "on top of things", you see fit to destroy a man's soul?" I asked, exasperated.

"Amazon, have you ever wondered why I prefer to be alone? In case you haven't noticed, I simply just don't like people. And that's because I do understand them, and I don't like what I see."

I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised. With the attitude that people showed them and how people treated necromancers, my guess was that was all Piricus had ever known. He was cold because everyone else was cold to him, yet another form of vengeance . . . . He must have never heard the adage "treat others as you yourself wish to be treated" . Or maybe it was that he had, and he preferred this treatment because he wouldn't know how to react if someone broke this routine. I didn't know, I wasn't him. And from what I could tell, his mind was a place full of shadows and deep secrets; it was clearly a place that I didn't want to be.

It was true that most people feared death, and that was universal. But necromancers, that had obviously overcome that fear to be able to cast the magic they could, had also surmounted the understanding of normal people. To those that only possessed the basic knowledge of necromancy, necromancers were evil. Demons with unnatural powers not to be trifled with. I did know, however, that contrary to what he might believe, not everyone hated and feared necromancers. There were some, though he'd refuse to admit it, like me and Scorpious that thought they were simply people like the rest of us.

I sighed, stating a question that had been bothering me since we left. "Do you really condemn those that died in Tristram? Do you not respect them because some of them stayed to fight what you called a hopeless battle? Do you really think arrogance was their downfall?"

He stepped beside me. "There is a difference between hopeless and pointless, amazon. People that die for what they believe in do hold a certain amount of respect with me, save maybe paladins because their beliefs are just wrong. They have no truth in them whatsoever," he growled, "and that which is not based at least partially in truth really pisses me off when people exalt it the way they do."

"I think you're wrong. I think Scorpious and his beliefs have more merit than you're willing to give them." I retorted.

"I am not wrong," he said with conviction, "there is no God. There is only the spirit realm. There is no such thing as heaven or hell, simply one plane of existence after death. Both those that were good and bad in this life end up there. I should know, I pluck souls out of there all the time," he said with a laugh.

"You do what?!" I coughed in surprise. "So not only their bodies, but their spirits can't rest in peace either, thanks to you?"

"Peace is an illusion, amazon, or haven't you realized that yet?" he said plainly.

"You . . . ." was all I could think of to say. I didn't know what to think. Know that I knew how he animated the dead, I could clearly see why Scorpious and Maria had such a problem with it. "What keeps the souls from rebelling against your control?" I asked, a tad bit repulsed.

He tapped his temple. "It's all up here. I'm stronger than they are. I have a living body through which to channel my spiritual force, they don't," he grinned sadistically.

"You're playing with fire," I replied truthfully, "and I find that a stupid move for anyone."

"And you," he replied with a glare, "are playing with ice, because I don't care about a word you say to me or what you think of me in the slightest."

I was just about to call him a liar, because if he didn't care what I thought, he wouldn't bother to try and explain things to me the way he just had. He would have simply answered my questions like he treated Scorpious, with insults. I opened my mouth, but was abruptly silenced by the sight of a pole-axe as long as my entire body hurtling out of nowhere aimed for my torso.

With a slight yelp of surprise, I quickly deflected the oversized projectile with an upward swipe of my readily available short spear. With a slight _thunk_, it clattered to the ground. Why was it that these things always happened when you weren't paying attention? A strange bellow, sounding goatish, rang out into my ears.

"What in Sanctuary?" I heard Sovellis growl as he turned around to survey the weapon at my feet.

"What in hell would be more li' it," Almius grumbled.

"Moon Clan . . . " Cloudyous sneered and readied his club.

"A what?" Vendra asked from ahead of me.

"A Moon Clan," Cloudyous repeated. Seeing her vague expression, he elaborated. "Moon Clans are lesser descendants of minotaurs. They are essentially half goat, half human."  
"They were the result of intercourse between humanoid demonesses called Succubus' and Minotaurs," Maria added.

Another weapon was launched, from up ahead over the hill, this time aimed at Laurella. As with all practitioners of Inner Sight, she felt the danger coming and was able to dodge safely in time. No sooner did I look up, than did a band of intimidating creatures march up over the hill and past the old, stone wall that lay up ahead.

They stood about seven feet tall by my reckoning, all the way from their goatish heads to their cloven-footed toes. Where there was skin, it was a dull, stony gray. From the top part of the torso upward and from the waist down, these creatures were covered in coarse, matted dark grey fur. These new monstrosities had large, broad, and humanoid torsos, but other than that and the incredibly human hands they were like unto goats completely. Each wielded a particularly fierce-looking polearm as they loomed closer to us.

"Best to take them out at range, before they get close enough to strike or throw another weapon," Maria exhorted.

She didn't need to say anything else. I grabbed my silver javelins. I surveyed my target, striving to find any possible spot of weakness, a spot with the slightest deficiency that would enable me to easily strike down the oncoming demon. Scanning the monstrosity more closely, my vision locked on the most subtle of vulnerabilities. It was there, at the waist line, at the absolute verging point of the flesh to the fur. The demon's gut lie centered there. With precision, I cocked back my arm and then let a javelin soar. It was a direct hit. The gleaming, metallic missile impaled the demon at the head of the group right beneath the navel. Black blood gushed forth in waves of ebony as the creature's anatomy ceased to function. It dropped to the ground with a final bray before dying.

"Good shot!" Ryelass called to me as the demon's carcass landed on the earth, "You killed it in one hit!"

As more demons began to trot into view, Cloudyous called aloud what I had already observed. "They are weak at the waistline and the center torso! Seek to strike on the fleshy parts, their fur is thicker than their skin!"

"I can fix that. Then maybe even the paladin will be able to do something useful for once," Piricus laughed, with a zealous gleam in his eyes. He raised his hands to a casting position and summoned his arcane energies to a suitable level, calling up the forces of necromancy. "Itha derde magnus thos!" he said forcefully in a language I couldn't understand. His summons fueled by his mana rapidly began to produce effects on the encroaching herd. Piricus' hands sent out a mass of glowing energy that quickly enveloped the demons and began absorbing into their skins, giving them a sickly aura. With every passing moment the demons seemed to become less and less able to hold even their own weapons. I could tell by the apparent quivering of their muscles beneath both flesh and fur.

Indeed, as Piricus poured more and more power into his curse, the more and more labored the herd's steps became. One even became so weak that it could no longer support its own weight. Its knees buckled and it collapsed to the ground. Laurella was the first to take advantage of the situation, she grabbed an bolt out of the quiver at her hip and rapidly dispelled it into the fallen creature's skull. I noticed that as Piricus continued to suck the strength out of them that I could see the purplish plasma that was their strength flowing back into his hands in turbulent waves. Piricus released his concentration and allowed the energy he accumulated to dissipate into nothing.

Maria looked on, observing this very carefully. I knew she must have been making a mental tab about what she had witnessed. She seemed to know what he had done better than the rest of us, or at least she was able to give it a name. "A weaken curse. Aren't you clever, pulling the strength from their muscles and decaying the tissues?" She didn't, however, spurn the gift. Instead she used it to her advantage and effortless kicked a nearby Moon Clan in the chest. The creature's frame had become so feeble that its chest caved in upon impact, damaging the inner organs as well and causing them to come gushing out from the force. It groaned for a moment, and Maria mercilessly put it out of its misery.

Cloudyous had become similarly busy, he was now clubbing a Moon Clan over the head. Instantly, the cranium of the monster shattered and caved in. Scorpious, as a gut reaction, had sliced at a Moon Clan that had wandered too close for comfort and caught it across the chest. In the creature's infirmity and weak composition Scorpious' holy blade cleanly severed its top from its bottom. Vendra and Sovellis, in a collaboration effort, cast twin spires of swirling ice into the last two remaining Moon Clan.

Once they fell dead, Cloudyous finished explaining. "It's very unusual for Moon Clan to be out and about in the middle of the day," he said with a tone of suspicion. "As I was saying earlier, Vendra, they are called Moon Clan because they worship and make sacrifices to the moon."

"I agree. For them to be out in the middle of the day is definitely odd. They were not here by a mere coincidence," Maria said knowledgably.

"Then tha' might explain this thing," Alminus said plainly as he gestured to a white-marble pedestal that had become cracked and smeared with dirt, apparently over a long period of time.

The once-gleaming (I assumed anyway) marble had been reduced to a dull grey hue and was now covered in places by a thick, flourishing red-green moss. Alminus proceeded to the site of his discovery and unceremoniously scraped aside a thick coating of moss with his large, muscular hand. This revealed an old tome with rusty clasps and hinges and old, yellowish pages tinted with mildew.

Alminus hesitated from opening the book as he carefully fingered an antiqued silver emblem that had been embossed into the moldy red cover. With moss still tucked into several crevices of the tarnished silver heraldry, he handed the book to Scorpious. "Tha cross on tha front looks li' one from Zakarum," he announced, stating his observations to the party.

Scorpious received the book in his armored hands. He glanced the novel over, examining in particular the seal with many folds. Scorpious nodded his affirmation to Alminus' assumption. "Yes, this is a seal of the church. From all these intertwining swirls around the cross, I'd say that this book belonged to a high priest or an archbishop. Although, I have to say that I've not seen an engraving like this for many years. Whom ever this belonged to was before my time."

After receiving approval from Maria, whom glanced the book over to check for traps, Scorpious undid the creaky clasps and opened the book upon it's binding. There were many ink smears all along the pages; Many of the words were smudged into illegible blurs from what I could see.

"I thought so. The weather of this place and perhaps time, hasn't done this book any favors. Most of the pages are too weathered or smeared to read," Scorpious replied.

"What's the matter paladin? I thought you were an expert at reading, speaking, and writing gibberish. Surely this isn't a challenge for you?" Piricus taunted.

Scorpious clenched his fists along the edges where he held the moldy tome. "The high language of Zakarum is not gibberish, Piricus. Here, why don't you see what you can read?" Scorpious responded with a tone of taken offense, although not grotesquely so. With the way Piricus constantly treated him, I was definitely impressed that besides the occasion grimace, Scorpious seemed to be able to let it roll right off of him. He heartily heaved the book right into Piricus' chest.

After catching the tome with a slight out-heave of breath, Piricus reopened the book and began skimming through and turning the ancient pages with his long, pale fingers. He licked his finger to separate two pages stuck together, then gazed at Scorpious with elfish green eyes. I caught a glimmer of amusement and airy pleasure in his eyes and a faint, sarcastic smile on his lips.

"You missed a spot, paladin," he snickered satirically, turning the book so that Scorpious could openly survey the page and a half of perfectly persevered Zakarum characters that he had unearthed between the two bonded pages.

Scorpious forced a smile. He was endeavoring so hard not to display any kind of adverse reaction to Piricus. "How observant. If you please, I'll translate the characters now," he said with restraint as he reached for the tome.

Piricus pulled back and waved his pointer finger in the air teasingly. He chided with a voice full of mockery, "No. Allow me, paladin.

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Do you even have the remotest clue what the hell those mean? You're a necromancer, I wouldn't expect you to touch those kinds of studies with someone else' dead body."

Piricus laughed. "Knowing your enemy is just as essential as knowing yourself. You'll find that I know a lot of things that you don't, assassin. "

"Even so, Scorpious, check over what he reads to make sure he's not just making this up," Vendra requested.

"What? Don't trust me?" he asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Not in the slightest," Ryelass growled.

"Ah, then you're not as stupid as you look, warrior. Now you're learning," he chuckled.

"Are ya gonna read tha' book or not?" Alminus responded impatiently.

"Hold onto your head, barbarian or I'll use it as a shield," Piricus muttered and then he began reading in a falsely pious voice, "And so it came to pass that the countess that once bathed in the rejuvenating blood of a hundred virgins was buried alive. And her castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly into ruin. Only one tower, as if some monument to evil, remains . . . . ."

When he had finished reading, Scorpious took the book from him and reread the passage silently to himself. He placed the tome back on the pedestal with an amused look on his face.

"Well?" Vendra asked eyeing Piricus maliciously.

"I'm not quite sure how he managed it, but every word he has spoken was there clear as day. I'm mildly impressed, Piricus," Scorpious said with a blink.

"Well, the feeling is not mutual, steeple-chaser. If you were any lower in my opinion you wouldn't exist," he spat back.

"Shut up," Ryelass snapped, and after that everyone stood still for a moment, with looks of inquiry upon their countenances as we all eyed the tome.

"Huh? What's a thing like that doing out here?" Vendra asked bluntly after a moment.

"A better question would be what it's talking about," Cloudyous answered.

"Does it matter? Tome could just be remnant of history or lore. It could be place long past. We not dwell on it, we should move on," Sovellis remarked.

"Actually, the Tower of the Countess has long been a legend amongst the sisterhood. It really does exist. Charsi said she saw it on the way to the encampment when we fled the monastery. Charsi got separated from our group during our escape is what I'm told. Unfortunately, Charsi is the only one of the entire sisterhood that has seen the tower and lived to tell the tale. Then again, Charsi never set foot within the tower itself," Laurella spoke with knowledge.

"The only one?" Vendra asked in surprise. "You mean people actually had the audacity to even enter a place like that? What could they possibly hope to gain?"

"The legend of the tower also tells of a great treasure trove buried beneath it. Sadly, some of our more voracious sisters have attempted in the past to claim the countess' fortune. Obviously none so far have been successful or ever returned either," our guide said quietly.

"So basically what you're saying is that the whole thing is a death trap for some unknown reason. You're saying that the only thing to be found there is an untimely end?" Ryelass reiterated.  
"Either way, Sovellis is right, we should move on. We're on a quest now, one where time is of the essence. There is plenty of time for questions like those once we have rescued Deckard Cain," Maria urged.

Scorpious nodded, and returned to Laurella's side, taking up a position in which he could readily protect her. With this, we continued on.

I noticed after a while that I had stopped shivering. . . .the wind as it blew, was warm to the skin. I guess the freezing cold had ended with the Cold Plains. The Stony Field, in addition to being significantly warmer, was drastically larger, or so it seemed to me. We'd been wandering on the same path for over three hours now. The high afternoon sun bared down upon us all across the mostly desolate grasslands. The only scenery we had was an occasional large, stone boulder. Tan grass, the color of golden wheat, waved in the breeze, obviously devoid of life other than the plants that grew there.

"Laurella, how much further do we need to go?" Cloudyous asked after a while, breaking the silence.

Our rogue guide, whom walked beside Scorpious at the center of the group, turned her head to answer him. "Not much further, but be forewarned that we're going to have to turn off the trail shortly."

Cloudyous sighed and cracked his knuckles across the grip of his club. He also looked to the sky, checking to ensure that Bibo was still with us. I looked as well. The bird seemed to be fine, and just as alert as we were. It flew over our heads and flew as closely to us as a black sky shadow. Belthem panted from beside him, lifting his head into a warm breeze and wagging his tail. The druid smiled at him.

"His patience reminds me that I should have it too," he remarked simply when he saw me watching. The trip to the turnoff was eerie with un-event.

"What going on? We see only one group of Moon Clan. The sisters say that land overflowing with demons," Sovellis remarked.

"It's true that we haven't encountered all that many adversaries in our travels. Which makes me wonder, knowing how demons are if they aren't massing for an attack somewhere," Maria pondered out loud .

"That would seem a reasonable explanation," Scorpious agreed from ahead of us.

We ventured off the trail at the designated rock Laurella had been looking for. It didn't take long before my ears started picking up strange, troll-like noises. They were unmistably coming from Carvers . . . .my Inner Sight twinged, telling me that there was a large band of the demons shortly ahead of us. Not surprisingly, Laurella and Maria had also picked up on the psychic trail.

"Oh wonderful. They are standing exactly where we need to go," Laurella remarked dismally.

"Who are standing where, my lady?" Ryelass asked her. It had just occurred to me that the others didn't have a forewarning sight other than what their senses told them.

"Carvers, and a large group of them. They are standing right in front of the Underground Passage entrance. It would save a great deal of time for us if we didn't have to enage them in combat. Is there any way that we can reroute them?" she explained. I, along with the rest of the fellowship, silently considered to myself ways in which I could contribute to ending our problem. Personally, I might could make a decoy of myself for them to attack while our group slip past unnoticed.

"I could distract 'em while ya all make a run fur the tunnel," Almnius offered. "I have a par'ticularly intimidatin' battle cry."

"Oh yes, that would be very helpful barbarian. You' die before we even got close to the exit," Piricus snickered.

"Then what do you propose we do then, Piricus? If you're so powerful why don't you just make the demons disappear?" Ryelass shot back, although not with his normal spunk. I suppose that was to be expected I guess, given the circumstances.

Piricus rubbed his chin in thought. "Not a bad idea. I could make them so scared of their own shadow that they run away and never come back again, if that counts for making them disappear. If not, I could always make you disappear, warrior. Would that be enough?" he taunted. I really didn't think Piricus was helping us to move things along.

"Any other bright ideas that don't involve shadowy forces of death?" Scorpious said in reprimand to Piricus' cruelty.

Maria snapped her fingers together. "Scorpious, you just gave me an idea," she exclaimed. "Let's go, I'll help us slip past," she assured and jogged down the path, leavin g the rest of us to follow.

"This assassin mysticism is getting old," Piricus grumbled as he readied his bone wand, presumably to rectify any mistakes he expected Maria to enact.

Sure enough, as we rounded the bend of the pathway, a small army of Carvers, about thirty by my count, were all waving miniature scimitars and screeching loudly. Four shamans were also present, brandishing their crude staves decorated with human skulls. One of the latter took notice of us and launched a fireball as Maria swiftly executed her plan.

She closed her eyes and unleashed an extraordinarily powerful blast of psyche, targeting the shadow cast by a nearby boulder. Rapidly, the shadow began to unnaturally expand, engulfing the area surrounding us. The demons began running into each other as they found the darkness become increasingly more blinding. Surprisingly, I could still see, even amidst the shadows. It was like we were in the calm eye of a fierce storm, light still shone upon us like nothing had happened. Maria quickly turned to us.

"The cloak of shadows will wear off shortly, hurry into the cave."

Nobody questioned her. I trailed closely at Maria's heels and darted through the narrow stone opening in the ground. Once everyone had completed their descent (it was a six foot drop to the cavern floor), Laurella assumed her guide position We currently stood at a crossroads of three paths. The young lady viewed her surroundings carefully and gazed through each pathway intently, looking from one to the next.

"My lady," Scorpious asked after we had stood still for a few moments, "are you lost?"

Piricus covered his mouth to suppress a laugh. I swear he was about to say _I told you so_.

Laurella shook her head. "No, my good Lord Scorpious, I'm not lost. I'm just trying to find the safest passage we should take."

Ryelass approached her. "My lady, what dangers do these caves possess that worries you so? Surely a few demons won't pose that much of a challenge?"

Piricus actually snickered this time, and I shot him an icy glare. Laurella locked her silvery eyes on Ryelass' own.

"Lord Ryelass, this cave is home to a particularly foul monster called Gore Malm. It is best to avoid him, although we, in our large number, could probably destroy him," she replied in explanation. Closing her eyes and calling upon her Inner Sight, which I could both see and feel upon her being, the redheaded rogue looked to the far left path and nodded. "This way," she said as she lead us into the darkness beyond.

The Underground Passage really wasn't that different from the Den of Evil, stalagmites and stalactites were still abundant as well as slimy deposits of limestone all along the cave walls. However, unlike the den, we had to provide our own lighting. Maria and Ryelass were now carrying torches they had lighted, while Vendra and Sovellis had channeled lightening into their short staves and were keeping the voltage low so that sparks flew out of the tips. The sparks reminded me of the bright, glimering fireworks I had seen on Skovas when Queen Chelsea had celebrated her 40th turn.

Our procession was somewhat speedy, but uneasy. The silence that surrounded us was eerie. Our footsteps, even though we trod lightly, echoed loudly off the cavern walls. In fact . . . . too loudly. I turned around to check the shadows, instantly finding justification for concern.

Almost indistinguishable from the darkness they crept through,

I could make out the red irises of corrupted rogues. Their skin was a pale, putrid green hue, as opposed to the white tones we had encountered thus far, which might have been a factor aiding in keeping them cloaked from detection. One of these rogues was sneaking up on Alminus, whom brought up the rear of our party.

"Wha's wrong Chyemme?" the gigantic man asked me as he stopped walking. I had already grabbed a silver javelin from my back and flung it over Alminus' shoulder. He was clearly startled when he heard the rogue's last cry as my javelin impaled her though the heart. My barbarian friend jumped in surprise as he saw the rogue land at his heels.

"Bly me! She woulda' . . . .if ya hadn't . . .thanks!" he managed at last.

"It's not over yet," Vendra growled and lightening crackled violently from her staff, lighting up the area. Sure enough. Several more rogues were revealed from the blackness.

One headed strait towards Laurella, who's back was exposed because she had turned to fire at another rogue in front of her. In one swift movement, Ryelass was by her side and cleaved the thing's head off with poise. Laurella whirled around in surprise. Surveying Ryelass' dripping sword she smiled.

"You just saved my life. Thank you . . ."

To my surprise, Ryelass actually smiled back for a brief second, the first pleasant gesture he'd made in a while. "The pleasure is mine, my lady," he assured as he slammed his short sword underneath his arm, point first, into the chest of another demon.

Sovellis and Vendra, whom were both close to me, were already dealing with the corrupted ones closest to them. Vendra took careful aim and fired a blast of fiery inferno into the closest one's face. Smoldering and charred, the demon fell dead. In the meantime, Sovellis had begun to fight the other. He swung his short staff, catching the demon in the midriff. However, his assailant did not falter, but instead continued on the offensive. The green rogue raised her axe above her head and swung down. Sovellis met her attack and barred the down-coming metal blade with an arching high block. The axe and the staff collided with the axe becoming lodged in the rattan wood. With backwards force Sovellis kicked the demon again while pulling back on his staff. As the axe dislodged, so did a large wedge of his staff.

Vendra came behind the demon and wracked it behind the knees, causing the monster to buckle. Taking advantage of this, Sovellis quickly raised his staff overhead like a sword and in the same manner brought it down upon the demonic rogue's head. As the demoness' skull caved in from the force, so too did his weapon. Upon impact, the already damaged portion of the short staff snapped off.

"Curses!" he growled as he tossed the useless weapon onto the ground.

Vendra frowned. "Oh great Sovellis! Now you won't be able to channel your magic as powerfully."

Sovellis sighed. "No big misfortune. My magic strong enough to last."

Sovellis appeared to have killed the last of the band. I looked around, gazing across the scene. Piricus was busy sending green energy into several corpses around him, which quickly surrendered their bones to produce skeletal warriors for him. I looked elsewhere hastily. I hated it when the corpses exploded as they turned into skeletons. I saw Scorpious near the left wall, wiping the blood off his sword. I also caught sight of Alminus, whom was plucking a small pouch from amidst the corpses of his victims. From the way the pouch clanked when he moved it, it appeared that the contents must have been gold coins.

Scorpious walked to Laurella and Ryelass after finishing the cleaning of his blade. "My lady, are you ready to continue?" he asked politely. When she nodded, he simply said, "lead the way." Turning to us, to make sure everyone was alert, he shouted, "MOVING ON! THIS WAY!"

Piricus muttered, "Well obviously paladin. It's the only way to go."

Scorpious just looked at him. "Did you say something Piricus?" he asked with a sigh.

Piricus' lip curled. "Oh no, paladin. Not a thing."

Eyeing the five skeletal warriors with unease, Scorpious ushered him ahead.

Walking ahead scowling at him as he passed, Piricus raised his middle finger to Scorpious. His skeletons, which followed closely behind him, each mimicked the gesture with one, bony finger as they each passed him in turn.

When they had gone ahead Scorpious light out a loud sigh and closed his eyes, massaging his brown forehead between two fingers. "Good Lord, he is just so obnoxious! I swear I have never met someone, so, so . . . "

"Irritating?" Maria finished for him as she walked by.

"Yes. Thank you, Maria. And now, onwards. Go ahead Chyemme, Cloudyous," he said to us gently, trying to maintain his courteousness.

Walking ahead, I began to get an odd feeling. We were going deeper underground, not upwards. "Laurella, why are we going deeper down?" I shouted ahead.

Laurella answered me from somewhere ahead that I could not see in the dim torchlight. "Gore Malm patrols the upper levels, I'm trying to avoid him," she called back.

"Yes, and with your shouting amazon, you'll be sure to catch it's attention," Piricus harped at me.

I was about to protest, but Cloudyous did so first. "You know Piricus, there are times when I was a necromancer," he said.

"Oh? And why is that, druid?" Piricus asked half in surprise.

"So then I would have the power to curse the flesh of your tongue with immobility," Cloudyous said in annoyance as Belthem let out a strong pant at these words. I swear to Zerae that wolf could understand human language. And I could have sworn that if he spoke it, Belthem would have laughed just now. Cloudyous' raven, Bibo also let out a noisy squawk

"Druid, you'll wish that is all I'm going to do to you when I can see!" Piricus snarled.

"Shut up both of you," Maria growled, " Cloudyous, control your animals. We all should be listening, not talking." I suddenly ran into someone who had stopped walking..

"Wha?" Alminus asked from ahead, then I felt a sudden bump from behind me.

"Ow. Chyemme is that you?" Cloudyous' voice asked from behind me.

I was about to answer when I heard Maria's voice from ahead of me. "Be quiet!" she hissed. It was her that I had run into. "Everyone stop moving," she said barely loud enough for us to hear. After the sound of footsteps ceased, the only noise I could make out was coming from the dull buzzing of Vendra's sparking short staff about ten feet in front of me.

"Maria, wha's" I heard Alminus ask.

"SHH!" she exhorted. I heard it too. . .a low growl, almost like a tiger's. "Vendra, turn out your staff! Laurella and Ryelass, put out the torches," she instructed hastily. All three did as they were told and then there was no light at all. "Now, everyone get back against the right wall, stay still and don't make any noise," she directed.

I stepped to my right and felt the slimy, limestone wall beside me. We waited, and moments later the most ugly creature we had yet to encounter wandered around the bend. It was encased in an aura of light that brightened our pathway. The creature lumbered on all fours like bear and was just as large. It had unnatural lumps coming out all over it's body, most especially on its head. The monster was a bluish-green color and had long claws on all four feet. Two tusks protruded from its twisted mouth. The monstrosity stopped to sniff the air with a nose that I could not see and then continued moving. Along behind it came several more of the creatures.

Stealthily and using the shadows as her shield, Maria leapt silently into the air and cleaved the head of the cabose demon off its body.. I continued to watch her, activating my Inner Sight for a personally better look. I couldn't see well in the dark without it. She landed soundlessly and crouched to kill the next. Maria had successfully killed three before the lead demon caught a glimpse of her scent. It stopped moving and sniffed the atmosphere once more, snorting loudly.

My Inner Sight told me that Maria had ducked low and was being perfectly still. It didn't matter because the demon with the light aura retraced its path and head strait for her. Maria quietly backed into a crevice in the wall as the demon stepped where she had just been. Miraculously, the demon's light had not unmasked her, or anyone else for that matter. Then it occurred to me, these demons were mostly blind. They could only sense movement and sound.

The monster get out another loud growl and lifted its head toward Maria's hiding place. He was going to uncover her if she didn't do something. I felt a rock at my feet and as quickly as I could, kicked it so that it skidded across the floor. The demons, all of them, immediately ran in the direction of the sound, allowing Maria to crawl back out of the crevice. It seemed we would be able to get away without notice as the monsters tackled each other blindly . . .

All I heard was a crash as something hit the earth, a human body by sound. The monsters heard this and instantly charged toward the center of the disturbance. Within moments the lead demon's light revealed Vendra, whom had obviously slipped on a patch of limestone/

"Damn it! LOOK OUT!" Maria yelled as suddenly we were no longer invisible to the creatures' detection. The light-encased creature opened its mouth and spat a large, glowing plasma ball at Vendra. The stunned sorceress was promptly saved by some strange blue aura, as Sovellis jumped in front of her, somehow shielding them both. I could feel a little of his spiritual force drain away. This must have been what they called a mana shield, I'd heard about them from Sovellis back in the encampment.

The hideous entity was not discouraged however, and leapt at Vendra with fangs barred. The rest of us had our own demons to deal with. A lumbering monster my Inner Sight told me, was headed strait for me. I kicked it hard in the jaw and jumped onto its back. By this time, Laurella had found a moment to actually cast Inner Sight, because our surroundings became lit with bright, shimmering stars.

The monster beneath me began to buck like a crazed bull. I held on as tight as I could with one hand, while trying to stab with the other. Time and time again my short spear would penetrate a bulky hump on the creature's body, only to reveal the humps to be full of yellowish puss. That was gross . . . . As quickly as I could, I aimed at the demon's head and stabbed my spear downward through several layers of tissue and bone. Sure enough, being impaled through the top of the skull was enough to dispose of the demon.

I saw Ryelass slash horizontally at a demon close to him, catching it across the face and leaving a bloody gash. Alminus was beside him and smashed his axe into a large pustule. It ruptured, however he must have managed to hit the creature deep enough, there was blood mixed in with the puss. Laurella dealt the finishing blow on the creature as she embedded a bolt right between it's eyes.

Scorpious and Cloudyous stood back to back facing two monsters, one directly in front of each of them. The monster in front of Scorpious lunged. While the demon was in the air, he dropped to his knees and thrust his sword upward, skewering the creature through the gut. Scorpious quickly rolled aside to avoid the creature landing on him.

Cloudyous said something I couldn't hear. Suddenly it seemed as if I was in the middle of a blizzard, the cave became filled with a wild, freezing wind. Cloudyous spun his hand around, not unlike what Vendra and Sovellis did to summon their own magic. As he twisted his wrist, the wind began to spiral around it. He then pointed his finger at his assailant and the wind slammed into his aggressor, turning it into a solid block of ice. Cloudyous easily shattered the statue with one hit from his club. Beside him, Belthem started towards Sovellis and Vendra, instinctively trying to help out.

Vendra had hastily rolled aside and shot an ice bolt toward the creature. The spike would have stabbed through the creature's lungs, but the demon suddenly faded on the spot. I glanced hastily around, but could not find the creature anywhere.

"Teleportation?" Sovellis groaned.

"That would explain how the creature was able to find us down here!" Laurella explained as she cocked her crossbow.

I saw a glare of light, subtle, but rippling appear behind Vendra. The monster, Gore Malm began faintly, but more strongly every second, fazing back into view.

"VEN--" I began, but the sorceress had already become aware of the situation. Turning around sharply, Vendra charged the ether in the air with electricity, and then used her control over it to push it hastily with her mind, sending an unseen force smashing into the monster and crushing it against the nearby cave wall. After being stunned and immobilized by Vendra's telekinesis (a skill that was remarkably similar to one of Maria's), Gore Malm was helpless..

Proceeding on the offensive, Vendra conjured a silvery, transparent orb between her hands. I could feel her pulling kinetic energy out of the air and I saw roaring fire appear within the globe. Vendra pulled back the globe, which hovered inches above her hand and it exploded into flame. She then hurled the fiery ball at Gore Malm, which caught fire and was burned alive.

Once the smoke had cleared, ashes were all that remained of the demon menace. However, among the black dust lay a few objects: a strange wand with a glass ball on the end, a long oak staff with strange symbols upon it, a barbed club, and a large pile of gold (don't ask me how monsters come to be in possession of these things).

"Smooth, sorceress!" Piricus growled. "You nearly got us all killed! I swear you--"

Vendra ignored him, at least partially, and turned to Cloudyous. "Here. You'd make best use of this, Cloudyous. An excellent use would be to hit him it," Vendra offered the club to him while glaring daggers at Piricus.

Cloudyous accepted the weapon with a laughing smile and an expression of thanks. I stepped on Piricus' toes to keep him from saying anything further. He glared at me.

"Amazon, you are getting on my nerves," he said dangerously.

I laughed quietly. "Well you must have plenty of them seeing as you can criticize others like that for making a mistake when you make them too. By the way, which nerve am I on?" I asked him mockingly.

Piricus looked at me half in irritation and half in mild amusement. "Touché," he said with a tone of annoyance in his voice as he eyed me.

I shivered, like always. His eyes were just so cold . . .

"Don't let it go to your head now," Piricus shot back quietly while smiling to himself. He could tell that I hated it when he stared at me, so he continued to lock his eyes on me out of spite.

I tried not to look back at Piricus, so I transfixed my gaze on Vendra. She had given the staff to Sovellis, and was pocketing the wand. Scorpious, I noticed, gazed over to Laurella.

"It's not much further now. The entrance to the Dark Wood is just in the next room," she announced to us. "Be sure to be on your guard, many vile hunters and lancers inhabit these woods," she added,

"Vile what?" Sovellis asked, unsure.

"Vile hunters and lancers are the green-skinned rogues we encountered earlier. Sadly, the closer we get to the monastery, the more of them there will be," she explained.

Sovellis nodded in understanding as we followed Laurella into the next section of the cave and up a carved stone staircase into daylight.


	12. Chapter 12

-1The Tree of Inifuss

Chyemme

Compared to the dim lighting of the Underground Passage, daylight was blinding. I strained my eyes, trying to become re-accustomed to the level of brilliance that the sun provided. I heard Piricus groan as well and saw him blink.

"Damn bright lights," he growled.

Laurella, whom had seemingly adjusted to the light instantly, signaled us to continue on the trail. Looking around for the first time, I noticed that there was a short gap between the exit of the underground passage, which lie embedded in a large stone outcrop of rock behind us, and the thick, dense tree line that extended across my line of vision. The canopy of every tree was thick with foliage so dense that only a few stray beams of sunlight broke completely through, unhindered to the ground. The whole timberline cast an unearthly shadow upon the terrain. We followed Laurella in silence into the Dark Wood, letting the sunshine give way to dark mists upon our skin as we entered under the canopy.

"This forest is not healthy," Cloudyous announced in concern.

"What do you mean? The trees look perfectly fine to me," Ryelass said as he looked around.

Cloudyous sighed in remorse. "It's not the way this forest looks, Ryelass, it's how it _feels_. Listen. What do you hear?" he responded.

Ryelass paused for a moment, then looked at Cloudyous with discernment. "Nothing. I hear nothing but our voices and footsteps, which is--"

"--unnatural for a forest?" Cloudyous finished for him. "Yes. No birds singing, no breeze blowing, not an animal in sight, and this odd mist?" Cloudyous informed with a nod. He was right, the silence of this forest was definitely out of place. "I daresay that even the trees are not quite right. The vibes they give off seem slightly tainted,"  
Cloudyous assessed further.

Laurella stopped walking at a large maple tree stump a few yards off the path to the left. "The Tree of Inifuss is well hidden in a thicket of trees and very hard to find. Many of my sisters don't know of its whereabouts. On my way to that forsaken tomb, I was dragged close by to the sacred tree. I didn't see any demons guarding it, but I don't find any reason for their continued absence," she explained.

Turning off the path and into shin- deep forest underbrush, we began blazing a trail lead by Laurella, with Scorpious at her side. About part way through the mist, I heard a loud, shrill screech and I saw a red blur diving at Alminus.

In reflex, Alminus took the flat side of his axe and batted the thing away. The force of Alminus' blow caused his would-be assailant to soar backwards into a small nearby pine tree. I was only able to catch a glimpse of the creature briefly, before a flock of them attacked us. These new monstrosities appeared to be some type of bird . . . They had wings and sharp, gleaming talons accompanied by vibrant green plumage on the tops of their heads. Strangely, the whole of the creatures consisted of glossy, blood-red feathers and they were about half as large as Belthem.

There was a flock of about ten bird-creatures in all. One swooped downward with its talons raked, aiming for my head. I did a quick dive roll to avoid the screeching menace. The bird-ish animal circled back gracefully and swiftly as it readied for another offensive. I ducked in the nick of time as razor-sharp talons severed a few strands of my sandy blonde hair. I prepared my short spear and threw it with accuracy into the creature's breast. The spear spiraled with the impaled creature attached to it into a thick tree trunk. I ran over, checking first to ensure that the creature was lifeless, then removed my short spear.

I was just in time to catch a glimpse of Scorpious severing a monster's wing from its body as it swooped at him. With black blood splurging, the bird-like monster fluttered helplessly to the ground. Scorpious proceeded to behead the creature without mercy. I heard a sonic screech as a sword of pure, white bone snapped through a harpie-bird's spine. One of Piricus' skeletons had killed the last of the bunch. Looking around, the only wound I noticed was a deep, bloody scratch in Sovellis' arm.

"What were those things? They sure were speedy little devils!" Ryelass growled.

"Blood Hawks," Laurella answered.

Cloudyous frowned. "Hawks? The demonic energies in the air must have overcome them. Dark energies do strange things to the creatures of nature. This is sad," he said surveying the fallen creatures.

"Well what would you like us to do druid? Sit around and let them rip us to pieces?" Piricus asked in frustration.

I expected Cloudyous to protest, but instead he shook his head. "No. I expected no less than what happened. It is a tragic thing that Andariel's powers have done this to such an ancient, magical land and it's inhabitants. Birds are the most susceptible to environmental energies, so as disturbing as this is, it's not entirely unexpected. The good news is that the corruption doesn't seem to be that far. These creatures still resemble the hawks they once were. Perhaps this forest's defenses are still strong enough to keep the demonic at least partially at bay," Cloudyous said with optimism.

"Or perhaps the corruption simply hasn't spread that far into this forest and all hell is going to break loose when it does," Piricus said, mocking Cloudyous' hope.

"You know, Piricus, you just suck the joy right out of living," Vendra sighed from where she was wrapping Sovellis' arm.

Piricus managed a satirical smile. "It's what I live for."

Sovellis shook his head. A sudden thought occurred to me as I looked over a fallen Blood Hawk, or more of a question rather. Which was stronger, man or beast? Both were falling to evil at an alarming rates. Human or not, Andariel was turning everything she could against us. If so many people had fallen, and they were only human and exposed to the same amount of energy that we were, why had hadn't we? My guess was that somehow, maybe we were more resilient because of faith. No matter what religion we were, we all believed in the forces of light, even Piricus.

"That will suffice," Scorpious said to Vendra and Piricus before they could start arguing again. Piricus looked up scathingly at him and Vendra gave him a not-to-pleasant look as well. Scorpious knew when to bow out gracefully, and turned to Sovellis. "How's your arm?" he asked.

Sovellis flexed his bandaged forearm and winced only slightly. "Could be worse. It not to bad. I alright to move on," he assured.

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

He gave me a friendly grin. "Only small bit, not enough to notice," he answered.

Scorpious shrugged. "Well, let me know if it starts to bother you, I can heal it if you'd like," he offered.

I gazed around and spotted Laurella alone amidst the group, looking carefully in each direction. During the battle we had gone all askew. "Lose your direction?" I asked casually.

Laurella shook her head. "No, I haven't, but I'm looking for the nest," she replied.

"Nest?" I asked uncertainly.

"Amazon, do you truly think these little demons are the only ones of their kind around?" Piricus asked as he walked over to join me.

"Where there's one, there's more, so we ought to attack the problem at the source," Ryelass affirmed.

I felt stupid for having not immediately placed that concept when it was obvious, however I did find some consolation in the fact that the rogue lands were foreign to me. Something familiar on Skovas may not have been the same here. Not to mention that these lands were also corrupted by the demonic. Other than my recent exploits, I'd never dealt with demons before.

"That does make sense," I said apologetically.

"That's because it _is_ sense, amazon. Rogue," Piricus began, "can you not execute your Inner Sight that you're all so famous for?" Piricus asked impatiently.

Laurella sighed. "I'm trying," she answered, and it was then I noticed the weak trail of stars going off to the right, but it died a short ways off.

"Why don't it work?" Alminus asked as he finished searching the corpses.

Laurella blushed. "The demonic energies here corrupt and disturb normal energies and push them back against us. The normal signals of the forest are gone and evil energies are lingering in the air like a thick cloud," she began.

Piricus clicked his tongue. "So, basically you're not strong enough," he assessed impishly.

The redheaded rogue said nothing, she was obviously ashamed.

"No need to worry, my lady Laurella. Demonic energies cloud everything, even for paladins as well," Scorpious comforted.

"That's not saying much paladin, because you're all blind anyway," Piricus interjected.

"Nobody asked you, Piricus," Ryelass said in their defense.

Piricus laughed. "I suppose I should have known. I shouldn't have asked a girl to do a woman's job. How about it, amazon? Where is this nest, or are you also too weak to find it?" he asked, turning to me.

I closed my eyes and searched out with my senses for any trace of the monsters. There was a large mass of energy off to the left, I could feel many creatures, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly where, which was unusual for me. For the most part, I was having the same problem as Laurella. I was encountering quite a deal of resistance. I was determined not to let that stop me and a I pushed more strongly. I was only rewarded with a more unclear image than before and the beginnings of a headache.

"It's somewhere of to the right, about ninety degrees to be precise, but that's only the right direction, not the correct location. I don't know exactly where it is, but I do know that many creatures are moving about that way, but I couldn't get a good look at them. They might not even be Blood Hawks for all I know," I admitted.

Piricus snorted. "Hmm. I expected better from you," he said plainly.

"So did I," I said in earnest.

"If the nest's location is unclear and we are in no immediate danger from it, let us move on. It isn't wise to seek a battle that we don't have to fight," Cloudyous requested. "Besides, I'd prefer that we move soon because the trees are starting to show signs of an encroaching storm," he added.

"How can there be a storm when there isn't any wind?" Vendra asked as she straitened out her robes.

"Just because you can't see or immediately sense it doesn't mean it's not there," Maria said in irony. That was the summary of an assassin's life in those words.

"True. Trees to thick for wind to get through," Sovellis agreed as he looked around, especially at the thick forest canopy.

"Then let us be on our way, we've lingered here long enough to catch our breath," Scorpious finalized.

Laurella resumed the lead again and began guiding us into the western part of the forest. I was glad she knew where she was going, because looking around myself, everything appeared to be the same. Andariel was nobody's fool, this unnatural maze was most definitely made to trick and confuse travelers deep into the forest where her demons lie in wait. Nobody spoke above a whisper, for fear that the eerie silence was some kind of trap, that if breeched, the situation would turn deadly.

I glanced over my shoulder to occasionally check on the other group members. Cloudyous was in the rear, he had tied his necklace around Bibo's throat. I knew this was to protect the creature, seeing as we'd just learned that birds would be easiest to corrupt. Undoubtedly, he had been unnerved by what the hawks had become. His wolf, Belthem, was walking casually, though cautiously at his side. The wolf seemed to be considering carefully where to place each paw at all times. Ryelass was in front of Cloudyous and Alminus was next to him, whispering about the comparison of this forest to the ones in the Northlands, while his shorter companion simply stared off into the distance, probably not paying attention to a word the barbarian said. I was impressed and glad at the same time that Ryelass seemingly had taken the news of his homeland well enough to function normally thus far, quiet though he was for the most part. Maybe he was doing so well because he wasn't really thinking about it, or maybe it hadn't really hit home yet. Either way, the real test was yet to come, and I wished him all the strength in Sanctuary. He would have my unyielding support, and everyone else's too I was sure, save maybe Piricus, but I honestly didn't think even he would attempt to stop Ryelass or discourage him in the least.

Vendra and Sovellis were walking side by side in front of them silently looking at each other. Piricus was behind me, but I didn't want to turn and look at him, guessing that he'd probably say something snide. My Inner Sight told me that he was actually looking into the distance to the right, watching the mists intently at the moment. Maria, whom was in front of me, was down-casting her eyes. Scorpious in front of Maria, was almost painstakingly scanning the treetops. Laurella, directly in front, was still walking, but going at a much slower pace and had drawn an arrow. She was holding it to her bowstring, at the ready.

I looked down as soon as my foot hit something not quite level. Underneath my foot was an imprint of a human shoe, etched deep into a patch of dried mud. It couldn't have been Scorpious, Maria, or Laurella's tracks, the print was at least a few days old. I stopped walking and squatted down to examine it. Evidentally, Piricus wasn't paying much attention to what was in front of him, because he ran into me and was quite irritable about stopping.

"What now? Are we having trouble deciding the way _again? _ Rogue, you call yourself a guide? And paladin, If you insist on walking in front of everyone else, do attempt a sense of direction," he growled, managing to blame Scorpious and Laurella instead of me, which shocked me a little bit.

"No trouble deciding. I just stopped to examine these tracks," I answered.

Piricus raised a white eyebrow. "And what tracks would those be, amazon?" he asked skeptically.

I sighed. "These tracks, the one's I've got my hand on," I replied, brushing my fingers slightly across the earth's dry surface.

Alminus came over for a look. "Tracks ya say?" he asked. I nodded, and then became confused when he looked at me quizzically. "Where are they, Chyemme?" he replied giving me a questionable look.

I pointed again and Piricus shook his head. "Amazon perhaps you tied your hair up too tight this morning, or it could be that you as well suffer from a lack of normal vision. Either way, there's nothing here and your wasting my precious time," he snapped in annoyance, and cast a contemptuous glance at Scorpious, as if this was all his fault.

"You're wrong. There IS something here. Maria, can you see them as well?" I protested. Maria's skills were largely psychic from my understanding so she should have been able to see them. Maria knelt down from where she stood ahead of me, She raised an eyebrow, but then nodded.

"She's right. I see them too, and they seem to go all over the place," she remarked and traced the circular path until it ended a few yards away.

"This don' make sense," Alminus said in bewilderment. "Why n' Sanctuary can't we seem 'em too?" he asked, clearly puzzled.

Maria opened her mouth to answer, but she called the shot just as I was about to. "Arrows!" she hissed and everyone immediately sought cover.

Out of the forest mists came gleaming red eyes, followed by more green rogues, some of which were wielding lances, while others wielded bows. I took the opportunity while one of the demons was reloading her bow to launch one of my silver javelins in response. I was right on the mark, and we had one less archer to worry about.

"Nice one," I heard Ryelass say from beside me. "We really need to start stocking up on long range weaponry," he continued as he pulled a knife from his boot and flung it at an approaching lancer. Alminus too had reverted to a ranged attack, I saw him grab a throwing axe from his belt and hurl it into the forehead of another oncoming Vile Lancer.

Laurella had wasted no time in firing at our assailants, and she managed to take out three of the archers in the time it took them to restring their weapons. Piricus, to my surprise, didn't order his skeletons to advance, but rather ordered them to form a barricade around his position. He was the least guarded out of all of us, and his command was executed just in time for one of his skeletons to take a decapitating arrow in his stead.

Apparently Piricus had become very peeved over the loss of a member of his security detail, for he retaliated by sending a fanged ball of pure mana that ate a hole through the last Vile Archer's chest, dropping the demon instantly. With no more archers to worry about, we were free to advance on the oncoming spear-women. Scorpious was the first to do so, and he sprang out from behind his covering tree and began ferociously slicing his nearest attacker.

I threw another javelin into the chest of one corrupted rogue that had strayed to close for comfort. I was just in time to see flames issue forth from Sovellis and Vendra's hands. The flames char-grilled their enemies and kept them safe. I saw Cloudyous club a demonic assailant hard in the face, which knocked the monster's head unnaturally backwards on its spine. Belthem and Bibo worked in unison to defeat another rogue; Bibo clawed at its eyes and dove wildly into its face, while Belthem drove his mouth full of teeth into the demon's abdomen, eviscerating it.

Maria, to my left was being swarmed by a crowd of three vile lancers. One jabbed at her. She quickly yielded aside and grabbed the outstretched object of war, jerking it hard and causing the demon that held it to go flying face first into the ground. With the weapon she had grabbed in hand, Maria swiftly stabbed downward, driving the point into the middle of the demon's back killing it. Quickly, she executed a powerful back kick into the gut of another demon behind her before it could strike. She turned, and threw the spear not unlike what I would have done, and it impaled the demon right in the throat. To finish off, she twirled, having brought her katars back over her hands, and sliced off the third demon's head.

Once all the demon lay dead, we collected our bounty and salvaged what we could. I was given an actual full length spear; although it was cracked it had a promising look of repair. I had no doubt that with her skills, Charsi would be able to make it look completely new. Once that matter was settled and we regrouped back together, Maria explained what she had been about to say.

"The tracks were human, mostly likely they belonged to uncorrupted rogue sisters. You couldn't see them because they had been covered with demonic magic. My guess was that this was an ambush spot, and we weren't the test run," Maria said grimly.

"So you're saying that there might be a couple of dead rogues lying about?" Ryelass asked in concern, eyeing Laurella, whom noticed his gaze and looked away.

"Don't worry about me," she said almost sadly, "I can handle it. You forget that when I was strapped down in the mausoleum the only thing I had to look at were the rotting corpses of my sisters."

"I'm sorry," Ryelass apologized sincerely, "I shouldn't have asked."

"You asked because you were concerned, and that means a lot to me," she responded gently.

Vendra shivered. "I can't imagine . . . .it's a miracle you're still sane. I hate corpses myself, I hope we don't run into any," she said with a cringe.

" Too bad, sorceress. With me here it's a guarantee, Piricus said with an amused laugh.

"One of the many things I love to hate about you," she snapped.

"Can you raises zombies?" I asked in interest turning to Piricus.

He grinned. "I can if I want to. The problem with zombies is that they're already falling apart. Skeletons are much more sturdy. And zombies have a one track mind. They'll kill whoever I tell them to, as long as the creature's got flesh. Usually has to be human though, but I daresay they are an excellent tool for ridding myself of paladins," He said with a glare at Scorpious.

"You won't get the chance. Skeletons are bad enough, but if you have the nerve to conjure up one of those, I'll put it down immediately and you along with it," Maria scowled.

"Scared, assassin? If not you should be," Piricus said darkly, letting his eyes flash their green hue. That was something I would ask him later. If he did that on purpose or if his eyes naturally flashed like that of their own accord.

"That's enough. It won't come down to that. That would be an unwise move for him and he knows it," I said giving him a glare of my own.

"And how is it that you know what I will or won't do? I'm full of surprises," he said with a sly smile.

"Because you're smart," I retorted, "with the way you're running your mouth all the time to come up with insults, you're mind must be racing a mile a minute."

Vendra choked on her own breath. "Him? Smart? Chyemme, I thought you knew better than that! Did you just compliment him?" she coughed.

"Yes she did," Piricus said with a grin.

"She not in her right mind," Sovellis said with a laugh.

"Don't say things like that to him," Ryelass griped, "it will go strait to his head!"

"I doubt that, Ryelass. Things tend to go strait over it rather than through it sometimes," I laughed, turning a compliment into an insult, just the way he did. Piricus' lip twitched.

"See that? To good ter be true," Alminus said with a chuckle. "That was funny, Chyemme."

"Watch it, amazon," Piricus growled.

I looked over to Scorpious whom was wearing a good-natured smile. "Lady Laurella, are we alright to continue?"

"Yes we are. This way," she announced and resumed guiding us as she stepped over a demon's bloody corpse, "we're almost there."

We followed Laurella for about five minutes with weapons at the ready, until we entered an odd, circular clearing in the woods. The sky overhead was visible for the first time since we entered this land, and it seemed Cloudyous' prediction for a storm was right on the mark. The clouds overhead were thick and gray.

In the middle of the clearing was a lone, leafless tree. Though leafless, the tree was far from lifeless. As I gazed at it, I began to get an odd feeling, a feeling of power. This tree was magical. The others noticed it too, for Alminus squinted his eyes and blinked before remarking,

"This tree is one of a kind."

Scorpious nodded in agreement. "Indeed. This tree bristles with magic. It must be the Tree of Inifuss, it fits Lady Akara's description flawlessly."

Piricus scoffed sarcastically and ordered his skeletons to be ready with a snap of his fingers. "Flawlessly you say, paladin? So I suppose the old rogue also described what she expects to be guarding that tree?" he asked cynically.

Scorpious turned to him. "She said that the tree has no official guardian," he replied

Piricus smirked and pointed off to the right. "Oh thank Trag 'Oul. So those things up in the trees are just bystanders? What a relief."

I turned to glance in the direction Piricus had pointed out. Sure enough, there were several hulking shadows high in the trees on the far side of the clearing.

"What are they?" Vendra asked to no one in particular.

Maria was the first to respond. "I don't know, but I don't like the looks of things. Let's get this scroll and be quick about it. We have someone's life to think about, I can't stress this enough, time is off the essence here." she reminded.

"I agree, but we of no use to anyone if we die here," he argued, "and all because we in too much haste."

Cloudyous gave a low whistle and called his raven to him. Using a means of communication that none of us would probably ever completely understand he talked with his feathery friend. Moments later he looked to us. "Those things are actually very shy and gentle creatures called Wendigos They're not very common and are rarely seen by humans. They have very peaceful nature and don't usually attack unless threatened. This particular group must be just passing by. They're watching us, yes, but as long as we don't bother them, they'll probably just leave us alone," he announced.

"Then let's go," Scorpious decided and our group approached the tree cautiously. The tree loomed taller and taller the closer we got and so did the feeling of magic. As we neared out goal, I saw deep etchings of odd shapes cut into the tree's bark. I knew these to be the runes Akara spoke of.

With Scorpious in the lead, we arrived at the base of the tree, meanwhile I kept a watchful eye on the Wendigos. Glancing around I observed that both Sovellis and Piricus were casting them leery glances as well. Something didn't feel right and I suddenly knew why.

A strange object, small at first came speeding toward us and became progressively larger until I realized what it was clearly. A tree trunk! And of a decently sized tree!

"OH MY GODDESS!" I gasped in shock and had just enough time to do a summersault backwards and avoid being crushed. Sovellis, whom had been watching, suddenly fired a bolt of lightening into the air that splintered another incoming object. Piricus too, ended up muttering a quick spell that summoned a bone spear into his hand, which he then threw with extra mana behind it into and splitting another tree trunk.

The group turned to us as pieces of wood from Piricus' target came raining down.

"What in hell!?" Vendra gasped as weapons were readied.

Piricus' fists flared with green arcane energy and he yelled at Cloudyous. "Oh druid, we have a little problem! Those oh so peaceful animals of your are ripping up full-seasoned trees and chucking them at us!" he shouted with a hiss.

I didn't see Cloudyous' face as I had my back turned to him, watching for more projectiles, but he sounded confused when he answered.

"Why would they attack us? They have no grounds," he called in confusion.

"Well maybe ya can ask 'em because they're comin' this way!" Alminus remarked nonchalantly. Sure enough, the creatures were now jumping from the trees and lumbering towards us at an alarming rate like gorillas, with their massive arms as support.

Cloudyous walked out in front of me toward them.

"I wasn't serious!" Alminus cried out in alarm.

" But I am! I'm going to talk to them and find out what's going on!" Cloudyous insisted firmly. "Stay here!" he warned all of us.

"Druid, like we're actually going to run up and greet something that can tear our heads off!" Piricus shouted, shocked that Cloudyous actually assumed he needed to tell us to stay put.

Scorpious knelt down and placed his sword in a praying position. This made Piricus roll his eyes.

"Here of all places, paladin? What, forget to say thanks for your morning meal?"

What I heard made me grin. In-between his utterances of Latin prayer, Scorpious still found the breath to fend off Piricus' scrutiny. "Be quiet Piricus!" he said in one breath.

Piricus was about to add to his last comment when Scorpious finished his prayer and a strange new aura engulfed us. It was a bright, flashing gold and it started circling around us like a flawless, balanced knife. I felt the odd sense once more that something more was defending me other than Scorpious himself, as his prayer gained full strength. Nobody was surprised when Piricus' startled voice took another go at Scorpious.

"What have you done paladin? Did it not occur to you that some of us neither want nor need your prayers? I, for one, detest the thought of glowing like a torch when those things are coming after us. Why don't you just paint targets on us?" he complained.

Scorpious sighed heavily. "Prayers are just requests, Piricus, to God. The auras are his answer, and his choice. You are under the protection of God, Piricus. It was his choice, although I have no idea why he continues to watch over you along with the rest of us," he replied.

" Oh good, so _God_ is behind all of this? Thank you conscience for the update, however haven't you--"

"SHH!" Maria interjected suddenly and all eyes turned to Cloudyous, whom carried the same aura as we did and was now less than four feet from the lead Wendigo.

The lead beast was of a slightly greenish color, while I noticed the rest of the group of twelve were dark brown. The creatures were large with bulky bodies and massive hands and feet. They reminded me of the Gargantuan Beasts we had encountered in the Den of Evil. I held my breath as the creature lumbered to a halt just shy of colliding with Cloudyous. As it stopped, so did the rest and for a few moments we stood in silence as Cloudyous conversed with the creature.

I was at such an angle that I could make out some of Cloudyous' facial features. From what I saw, he appeared fine, then suddenly confused, and then shocked as he hastily backed away, drawing his club as the lead monster let loose a roar that rumbled the earth around us.

"It don' appear ter be workin'!" Alminus said stating the obvious and starting to the rescue as the beast suddenly swung a gigantic, clawed hand at Cloudyous, whom quickly yielded aside to avoid being hit.

The wendigo shrieked in pain, for as he reached for Cloudyous a second time, Scorpious' aura shot little, pin-like needles of golden light deep into its fur. This caused it to roar again in anguish and starting grasping madly for Cloudyous. As more thorns of light pierced into the beast the rest of us charged.

"Be ready!" Ryelass called in warning.

Piricus growled in apparent frustration. "It's official. The druid doesn't get act as peacekeeper anymore."

An angered beast at least twice my size thundered toward me and swung a massive fist at me with surprising speed, given its size. I barely had enough time to duck before its next attack. The wendigo swung at me with the other hand down low, which I jumped over and then returned with a jab of my short spear. Pin-needles of light flew off my aura almost instantly and accompanied my weapon into the beast's chest. The thorns of my aura sank deep into my attacker, however my spear barely sliced its fur. To my unpleasant surprise, I was roughly seized from behind by the Wendigo's left hand and hoisted into the air with enormous pressure all along my body as the beast squeezed. It was trying to crush me to death.

I wouldn't die here. As the creature was bringing me overhead, probably trying to smash me into the ground, I kicked it in the face, just across the nose as I reached its eyelevel. That, couple with still more thorns made the creature relinquish its hold one me immediately. It covered its face with its hands and I fell to the ground. As I landed, I quickly refolded to attack and thrust my short spear through the creature's exposed throat. Blood began to gush forth and without air to fill its lungs the creature suffocated to death, choking on its own blood.

With one down, I turned to help Vendra and Sovellis, who were attempting various spells, none of which seemed to be working. I came from behind the one in front of Vendra and pierced its airway as well, and aided with the holy missiles that stabbed at the creature from my aura and Vendra's it died swiftly. Vendra nodded in thanks, she was too out of breath to thank me in words, and then we turned to help Sovellis whom was casting fire spells that couldn't seem to burn the beast's fur.

Vendra raced to his side but was swatted away by a backhand from the beast. She flew through the air and landed roughly on her back, but other than that she appeared to be okay. She sat up and coughed up a slight bit of blood, but then got back to her feet. She said a few words that conjured an ice spire, which she then threw into the middle of the Wendigo's back, impaling it just as it was about to strike Sovellis. It went stiff for a moment, then fell limply away to reveal Sovellis' grinning face.

"Thank you, feisty one," he smiled.

"You're racking up quite a payback tab," she said, although not without a smile of her own.

With that out of the way, we turned to survey the situation. Laurella and Ryelass were working together to defeat another Wendigo to our left; Laurella was shooting it in the face, while Ryelass was slashing away at its midriff while it was preoccupied. To the right, Maria was expertly dodging while slashing at two wendigos. Scorpious was mirroring Ryelass by powerfully slashing at the abdomen of his own attacker. To the front, Alminus was now wrestling one of the creatures on the ground, as it had knocked away his axe, which lay on the ground about five feet from them. Alminus appeared to be winning, he had the creature's arm chicken-winged behind its back and he was using his free hand to punch the animal in the face. Alminus was easily the strongest of us all, so this didn't worry me too much.

Piricus was a sight to behold as well. He was busy jumping around to avoid a flattening blow from the creature he was battling. I saw him duck, as I had done, to avoid a strike, however the skeleton behind him wasn't as bright and it took the hit full force and crumbled into a dozen or more pieces. Piricus cursed and ordered his remaining three skeletons to attack. I cringed as the Wendigo picked up one of them and used it as an undead bone club upon the other two until all three fell apart. The creature grabbed for Piricus, whom stabbed it in the hand as the barbs of his aura bit through flesh. The creature tottered dangerously back and forth waving its hand around before its muscles visibly locked up and it fell dead to the ground spasming. Piricus must have coated his dagger with a pretty virulent venom for his poison to work on such a big creature and so quickly.

My attention then turned to Cloudyous, who seemed in the most danger. He was surrounded by the three remaining wendigos and the lead one was still attacking him. I called for Vendra and Sovellis and together we launched a ranged attack. My javelin hit a monster in the face, which killed it instantly. Vendra and Sovellis had both used the telekinesis spell at the same time upon one, and the force crushed the creature literally flat. By this time, Maria had finished with her battle and hastily joined us. She grabbed a throwing knife out of her belt and threw it accurately right into the eye of a wendigo. It roared in pain, and doing what Vendra and Sovellis had done, she blasted the creature backwards with psychic force, knocking it into a tree which then cracked and fell on it, squashing the animal.

That left Cloudyous with only the lead monster to contend with. I was about to throw another javelin when Alminus came flying out in front of me and tackled the creature around the waist, pushing it away from Cloudyous. The creature fell to the ground with Alminus on top of him, but it retaliated fiercely. It easily broke free and threw Alminus through the air like a pebble in a tornado. He soared overhead turning circles and landed roughly on his butt. He winced in pain and Ryelass and Laurella ran to him. He waved them off and tried to stand, but staggered to a knee. His leg was obviously broken. Ryelass pulled a healing potion from his belt and handed it to his friend, as the barbarian snapped his own leg back into place before drinking it. I grimaced. For this monster to toss a man as strong as Alminus aside that easily it had to be extra strong.

Cloudyous shook with a fury I had never seen in him before. His whole body glowed with a brownish-green aura and the wind began to pick up as it had when he summoned the tornado in the cemetery against Blood Raven. Even Belthem whined and backed slightly away from him. Cloudyous looked from Alminus, who was being held up by his friends back to the demonic Wendigo with rage and prepared to attack.

"Cloudyous be careful!" Maria yelled as she watched.

"Something's wrong! This creature is not natural anymore!" Cloudyous' answer came as loud and strong as thunder. "IT'S THE LEATHDHIABHALA! IT'S COVERED EVERYHTING! THIS ENTIRE FOREST REEKS OF IT! NOTHING HERE IS NATURAL ANYMORE! " He growled, literally.

Before my very eyes he began to change form. Dark brown hair began to sprout all over his flesh and his already existing hair melded to match. His body enlarged and his muscles grew to an enormous size. His face flattened and his eyes became wild. His mouth stretched into a long muzzle and his ears shifted to the top of his head and became fuzzy and round. His hands became paw-like and donned bear's claws, which he then began slashing at the extra strong Wendigo with. When his transformation was complete, the once human man resembled a grizzly bear that walked on two legs.

"A werebear!" I heard Alminus remark in surprise.

The anthro-human paid no heed to anything as he set about his attack. The Wendigo swung, and instead of ducking, the bear-Cloudyous blocked as I would have done to a normal human punch. I feared for a moment that Cloudyous, similar to Alminus, would not have strength enough to match the creature's. I was sorely mistaken.

Cloudyous not only had ample strength to block, but to overpower the creature as well. His blow caught the Wendigo in the midriff and his claws tore through its tough hide like a hot knife through butter along with the thorns from his aura. Cloudyous had the strength of a bear and still maintained the magic of a druid. His paw-fist burst into flame upon his next strike and set the Wendigo's fur ablaze before Cloudyous savagely ripped the being apart. I almost felt sorry for the thing. The skirmish was over in moments and a human Cloudyous remerged from underneath the fur. He shrank back to normal size and all of his animalistic features faded except for the feral rage in his normally tranquil eyes.

I was shocked speechless, I had never seen something like that before and especially from someone so peaceful! However the shock soon dissipated, I was becoming more and more inured to strange magic every day. What did surprise me was Piricus. He seemed to have almost a tone of admiration in his voice for the carnage he had just witnessed.

"Bears AND wolves? Okay then, I will definitely think twice before cutting down a tree in your presence."

Cloudyous wasn't paying attention to him, he merely walked over and removed a few objects off the creature's corpse before turning back to us.

"Quite a show Cloudyous," Maria said with unease. I could tell she was debating on some inner topic about what she had just witnessed. She was an assassin, a mage slayer, whom was supposed to keep any eye on them in case the good suddenly went bad. What she had just seen from Cloudyous had undoubtedly disturbed her. She fiddled with her katars uncomfortably.

"Don't you dare," Vendra snapped in a voice barely above a whisper.

"The creature was tainted. This whole forest is! That creature was the last of free will in this entire forest! It had to be destroyed, for nothing good can come from tainted primal energy. The wild become feral and lose their honor and dignity when forced to serve the darkness! It's not in their nature to serve anyone, darkness or light! And yet, Andariel disrupts this sacred rule, this sacred trust and uses them as pawns! It is the ultimate sacrilege when a druid is forced to fight against the very creatures he has sworn to protect! That creature was innocent and one of a kind! I vow that I will not rest until I have righted this wrong! This sin! I now know why I was summoned to this place. This world is in chaos!" Cloudyous spoke out passionately with an angered tremble in his voice.

"He's fine," Maria said, relaxing a little upon hearing this, "there was grounds for what he just did." she said to Vendra. "I'm sorry Cloudyous. But the forces of hell spare no one and nothing, not even nature. They manipulate whatever card they can play," she remarked truthfully.

Cloudyous gave a curt nod. "Be that as it may, I will uphold the vows of druidism. I will champion nature even against the prime evils if it comes down to that," he vowed.

"Serious words," Sovellis remarked.

"And true, I assure you, every one," Cloudyous responded. "It is my duty."

"Speaking of duty, we should get the scroll. I have a duty to Deckard Cain, for he is one of my people and may also be the last of them," Ryelass interjected somberly.

Cloudyous nodded. "I believe Andariel has thrown all she can against us for the moment," he assured as we all turned to the Tree of Inifuss.

Ryelass took the edge of his sword and cut out the chunk of wood with the symbols engraved there, leaving a chip in the tree. "We have what we need, now let's get back to Lady Akara," he announced and tucked the runes safely into his belt.

Laurella nodded. "I know of a waypoint nearby we can use," she assured and took the lead.

As we walked to the waypoint, Scorpious insisted that we maintain our thorn auras. By now it was obvious what they did. Nobody complained, even Piricus, so we kept them. I saw Cloudyous to my side and took the opportunity to talk with him. He scratched Belthem's ears affectionately, as if trying to distract himself.

"Are you alright? I know you didn't want to fight those animals back there," I offered empathetically.

Cloudyous, whom I expected to be bitter about it, merely looked to me and sighed softly. "No, I didn't, but what's done is done. I will hold true to my vows and defend nature from the demonic to the best of my abilities. Do you remember the night that we all met and I said I came here because the wind echoed a disturbance in the west?" He asked and I nodded. "Well, now I know why I am here to say the least. This whole land is demonic, in fact, I'm positive that things are going to get worse the closer to Andariel we get. I just became so angry back there because I suppose up until now I've harbored some artificial hope that something would have remained untouched by evil, even after everything we'd seen already. I feel as if I have failed the creatures of this land and that I have been fooling myself. Treehead Woodfist was the last untainted creature here, and he was also the oldest," my druid friend said tragically.

I patted him on the shoulder. "Hope, no matter how small or how out of place, is never wrong. So that Wendigo had a name? How'd you know?" I asked curiously.

"All animals have a name Chyemme," he reminded gently. "Just like we do. I asked him his name and why he was attacking us. I told them that we meant no harm to them or the tree," Cloudyous replied.

"Obviously he didn't believe you," I remarked.

Cloudyous shook his head. "He believed me, however something was wrong. The conversation was hurried and making no sense. He seemed wrought with inner turmoil. He kept trying to say that he needed help, and that he didn't mean to attack us, he didn't understand why he did it himself, but that was about as far as we got before he told me to get away from him and the evil overtook him. I couldn't speak to him anymore and well, you know the rest. I can't speak to demons, even the ones that use to be animals. The darkness blinds them to all reason, it engulfs their being and makes them frenzied servants to a black master," he explained.

I could only imagine how hard it must have been for Cloudyous to hear all of this and not been able to do anything to help. I suddenly understood his righteous anger for the beings he protected. As we reached the blue flame circle of the waypoint I asked another question.

"Wow. That must be awful. You have my full support. Piricus said something about wolves and bears. What did he mean?" I asked.

Cloudyous grinned, which made me smile too to help ease his troubles. "Oh, that. In addition to being a werebear I can also shift forms into a werewolf. Piricus and I had a little bout on that first night at camp where he summoned a clay golem and sent it after me. I transformed and tore it to pieces," he laughed.

"That sounds like him," I agreed as I stepped on the waypoint circle.


	13. Chapter 13

-1Author's note: Okay so I'm thinking I might need to make each act into a separate book, with as longwinded as I am, lol. Anway, I've just about got everything that I have already written typed. Bear with me, I'm really getting into writing about Tristram so that's going to be really detailed. Anyway, here's the step before that, the Cairn Stones. Enjoy )

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2. I'm merely playing around in Blizzard's Diablo Universe. Therefore, everything but my character names are copyright them.

The Cairn Stones

Chyemme

A spinning sensation overcame me once more as the portal worked its magic and flung me through space and time. When I was perfectly sure I was no longer moving, I opened my eyes and gingerly stepped off. I still felt dizzy, but overall it was an improvement. In a few moments, everyone was safely back in the encampment. We started the walk back to Akara's tent, but she met us halfway.

"Back already? Good," she said with relief as she looked us over, "and none of you are badly injured. Excellent," the wise old rogue said in relief as she walked over to Sovellis and magically healed his arm just by waving her hands over it. Next she walked over to Alminus and gingerly ran her hand over his shin, healing the bruise that had formed there and fixing his limp. He stood up strait without pain.

"Thank you," both he and Sovellis said in unison.

Akara nodded with a smile and then addressed the current quest. "Now, I'll have a look at the scroll," she said taking it from Ryelass' outstretched hand. I didn't know how long it would take the esteemed woman to read and translate the scroll. I assumed it would take a considerable amount of time, given that the runes were ancient and no longer used. I was surprised when it took only mere moments before Akara handed the scroll back to us with writing upon it.

"Ah, very good. I have translated the runes on this scroll. You must find the Cairn Stones and touch them in the order that I have written."

Ryelass handed the translated scroll over to Scorpious, whom nodded to him first and then to Akara. "Thank you my wise lady, we will depart immediately," he replied with a bow.

Akara's old face was painted with concern. "Take care all of you, beware the dangers that lie ahead," she warned.

Scorpious gave her a reassuring smile. "Fear not my Lady, we will."

Piricus whom had been silent for a while, decided to chime in again. "Well, I don't know about that, paladin. Knowing you and your oh-so-natural sense of direction you'll walk strait into an enemy sword, or I can hope anyway," he laughed sarcastically before he stepped back onto the waypoint and vanished.

Scorpious threw his head back to the heavens. "God PLEASE give me patience and understanding!" he cried almost desperately before shaking his head and stepping onto the way point. One by one all the members of the party passed through the waypoint. When only Laurella, Ryelass, and myself remained, Akara called us aside.

"May I have a word please?" she asked politely. All three of us huddled together in confusion and made our way over to her. "I just have a quick word for you, Laurella dear," she began. "Charsi needs to see you as soon as you return, and I wanted to make sure that things are well and your treatment fair?"

Laurella's eyes brightened and she nodded. "Yes my lady, my treatment is completely hospitable, I've had to bear no unpleasantries from the others," she assured. Akara nodded to her and she left.

Next she turned to me. "Lady Chyemme, your mother has sent a letter and a gift for you. I feel the gift would serve you best now," she informed, handing me what I instantly recognized as an amazon buckler shield by its rich, gold color and delicate engravings around the edges. I took the shield with thanks and held it on my arm as she finished. "I'll hold the letter for you until you return."

I nodded and excused myself. On the way to the waypoint, I heard her conversation with Ryelass.

"Good Lord Ryelass, please forgive me for taking up your time, but I feel I must stress this. I admire your courage and do not doubt your fortitude, for you seem to be doing fine after the news of this morning, but I must stress that what you are about to see, should you choose to accompany the others, would break a normal man's spirit into shards. I know this pain better than what you would think. I too have had my home taken from me and my own sisters march against me in the service of my enemy! Perhaps you do not realize that the home you once knew is gone. My Inner Eye tells me that you are struggling with this concept. I know it is difficult, but I wish for your own sake that you will please not leave here thinking that all will be the same as you left. You'll go mad if you do. Also, it is my understanding that you seek your brother, Marcus. My Inner Sight reveals that you have hope of finding him there. I do not wish to crush your hopes, but from what we know, you, a handful of townspeople, and possibly Deckard Cain are all that remains from Tristram. Your brother is not likely to be there, therefore I urge you not to wander through town, but to find Deckard Cain and leave immediately. It does not do well for one to constantly relive the past. It will not change the present. Although I cannot stop you, I beg of you to stay here. No one will think less of you and there are enough of the others to safely handle matters," she finished pleadingly.

Ryelass spoke softly and with determination. "Lady Akara, with all due respect, I appreciate your concern, but I feel that this is something I MUST do. I will regret it forever if I do not, for I was going to return home someday anyway. If things are truly as bad as you say, then please take solace in knowing that I am there in the presence of caring friends. I must know what has happened to my brother and my heart tells me that the answer lies there, maybe even with Deckard Cain. I feel that it is my duty to at least be a part of his rescue if nothing else. Besides," he said in reply as I stepped onto the waypoint, "I don't want this to be an opportunity for Piricus to ridicule me so painfully with for the rest of my days."

Next thing I knew, I was shakily stepping off the waypoint into the Stony Field, where the others were waiting.

"What kept you?" Vendra asked.

Maria glanced me over and nodded. "Nice shield. A gift?" she asked examining it at eye's distance. I nodded in reply.

"Oh how touching, another gift from mommy amazon?" Piricus stated in a mocking voice.

"Shut it," I heard Vendra growl, as well as, "I don't think your parents even know you exist." A dangerous green light sparkled in Piricus' eyes, but he didn't respond.

"Where's Ryelass?" Scorpious asked, taking a headcount. I was about to reply that I didn't know when he suddenly appeared through the waypoint.

"Finally," Piricus grumbled, "If you were any slower, my Decripify Curse would have actually made you faster."

Ryelass glared at him. "Lady Akara wanted a word," he said bluntly.

Scorpious turned his head to him. "Are you ready to continue?" he asked with an undertone of concern.

Ryelass merely nodded and Laurella began guiding us across the boulder-encrusted landscape. As we walked, I threw a side glance at Ryelass. Alminus was talking to him, but like before he didn't appear to be listening. He looked deep in thought. I hoped what Lady Akara said was sinking in, because I agreed with her. I didn't think he was ready to see his homeland again and most assuredly not the slaughter that was wrought there recently. I resolved to keep an eye on Ryelass, because as I looked at him, my Inner Sight picked up the image of a strange building. It might have been his house; I didn't know, but the building probably was not the current residence of Deckard Cain. Akara had probably been right when she believed he was likely to go wandering off. I would make double sure to watch him, just in case nobody else did.

We walked through the Stony Field for about ten minutes in the east direction, when Laurella had announced with urgency that we were very close. We didn't encounter any demons along the way, so Scorpious had released our auras. He must have been tired of holding them anyway, for his prayers were like my mana and they drained his energy. I was grateful that we didn't have to stop and fight.

"Rakanishu!" came the annoying cry from beside us.

"Guess we must have missed one coming through here last time," I growled and turned, stabbing the Carver that was rushing me.

"We missed two," Vendra said in irritation as she dispatched an arm of lightening from her fingers into a chest of another of the demons.

"Three," said Alminus as he swatted yet another one away with the edge of his axe.

"It's obvious that we missed a shaman," Piricus pointed out, rolling his eyes. "Must I do everything myself?" he continued, and walked just a slight bit ahead. He conjured more of those weird balls of light with fangs and dispatched into something over the ridge that I couldn't see. He motioned us over to him.

"Looks like we only missed three," he said sarcastically.

Down below us was a group of thirty or so carvers, three shamans and a strange little one that was bright, lime-green. There was an odd glow around him. Vendra squinted her eyes for a better look.

"Monster has lightening power," Sovellis announced matter-of-factly.

"I sense it too," Maria affirmed. "Keep an eye on him, but we need those shamans first, otherwise they'll just revive him."

"Are those the Cairn Stones?" Vendra asked, looking ahead to the strange circle of upright grey stones that the small army had been massing around.

"Sorceress, are you really that stupid? Do you really have to ask? Maybe the paladin's aura addled your brain," Piricus said in distain, "I wouldn't doubt that it had a flaw somewhere."

"My brain is just fine thank you, but your mouth won't be if you keep talking. I'll zap you until you lose all the control in your muscles and mercifully, that includes your tongue."

"I know something that can help us," Scorpious interjected thoughtfully, "I have another aura that will work nicely for this." He said something in Latin, sending a spiritual appeal to the heavens. Something must have heard him, because for the second time today a strange, tingling sensation washed over me and my body gained an unusual aura. I felt as if my skin had become insulated some how.

"Wha's this one, Scorpious?" Alminus asked, whisking a large hand through the glow.

"It helps protect from elemental lightening, magic or natural. It lessens the natural conductivity of our bodies," he explained.

"Amazing!" Laurella exclaimed in awe. "You can protect people from magic just by praying?"

"Faith is a powerful thing, but I cannot stress enough that God is the one that has graced us with these gifts. He is protecting us, not me. I am merely a vessel for _his_ power," he said modestly.

"Paladin, please," Piricus laughed. "You're just casting spells like the rest of us. God does not exist."

Scorpious sighed. "You are mistaken," he said simply.

"People don't rise from the dead paladin , unless I make them. Your God is a myth," Piricus insisted harshly.

"To you maybe, and that would make you wrong," Scorpious said simply, although not without looking directly into Piricus' eyes with righteousness.

"Oh, I don't think so paladin. Care to test it sometime?" he goaded.

"I'm not getting into a fight with you, Piricus. It would be senseless violence. I have nothing to prove to you. I settle my differences with words, not with my sword." Scorpious assured.

"If that was true, what the hell do you call the recent Zakarum crusade? It was only a minor inquisition, really," Piricus shot back. "You all think you're high and mighty, you say that you fight only with words, but that's a boldfaced lie, making you break one of your precious ten commandments in the process. Paladins are nothing more than warriors with a fancy name."

"I only fight against other people when I have no other choice. Demons and the _undead_," Scorpious said with an accent on the last word while he looked pointedly at Piricus, "are a different matter entirely. I'd have no remorse about dispatching your minions if you step out of line," he retorted.

Maria scowled at Piricus and pointed a katar at him threateningly. "If he even puts one toe out of line, it will be last move he makes. Scorpious may have qualms about killing other people, but I don't, especially when they've gone renegade," she growled.

"And you think I'm cold, assassin? You're no better than what you're hunting," Piricus said bluntly, though with a scowl.

I could see that this statement received a response from more than just Piricus. Vendra flinched. I knew that this hadn't helped her opinion of Maria in the slightest. It had undoubtedly just made it worse. Sovellis blinked and wore a strange expression on his usually jovial face. The closest guess I had to what it was, was discomfort. Even Cloudyous looked offended to a degree.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, assassin," Piricus added dangerously, that eerie light flashing behind his eyes.

"Uh guys?" Alminus interjected awkwardly, "It's gettin' dark. We prolly don' want ter try 'n rescue Cain in the dark."

"He's right. This distasteful discussion can wait until later," Cloudyous said giving Alminus his support.

"We need to take care of this quickly," Ryelass said, eyeing the green monster wearily.

"Carvers are cowards," Laurella remarked, reiterating what we already knew. "Start striking them down and they will scatter. Especially if you kill Rakanishu, he's their champion," she added, nodding at the green one.

Vendra rolled her eyes. "So _that's _Rakanishu?! The one they keep yelling about all the time? God, please let me kill him, just to shut them up!"

"They annoying," Sovellis nodded in agreement.

"Be my guest, sorceress, go get fried to a crisp, I am need of some amusement anyway. This aura," Piricus said in disgust, "isn't going to save anyone from a direct blow."

"I have an idea," Alminus said confidently. "I can attack 'im in the air."

"And how do you figure that, barbarian? You're so heavy it would be like watching a boulder try to fly." Piricus snickered.

Ryelass smirked. "Obviously you've never been to the Steppes, Piricus. The barbarians have incredible muscles and are well versed in their use. Alminus can easily jump clear over that group down there."

"I intend to," Alminus replied with a nod.

"Whatever works. With luck you'll dodge strait over whatever magic this thing's got," Cloudyous nodded at him.

"Let's go. Vendra, Sovellis, can you two split up and take the two shamans to the far right? Chyemme, can you get the one on the left?" Scorpious asked me.

I nodded. "You know, I think if I can get to the bottom of this ridge, I can peg him from there," I admitted.

Laurella looked at me with bewilderment. "Really? You can throw that far?"" 'O course she can!" Alminus said loudly and with a smile, "She's an amazon! A good, strong group of women they are! I saw one once, she came to the Steppes, gave our most accurate masters of throwin' weapons a run fer their money."

"What about all the little ones in the way?" Laurella continued.

"I'll take care of that," Cloudyous assured.

"Okay, here I go," I stated and carefully made my way down to the bottom of the ridge. "Coming?" I asked to Vendra and Sovellis.

"Nah, you may can hit him from down there, but we'll be just fine up here. Fireballs have better range than bows or javelins," she said with pride.

"Okay," I said, feeling slightly outdone. To me, the range of my attacks were a source of pride. So what my magical friend had just said was something of a challenge. I would have to find a way to increase my range. Maybe if I had a good bow I might could best her. I'd definitely try it sometime when there was time and under different circumstances. So for the moment, I put my pride on a shelf. According to Scorpious it was a sin anyway.

I focused my attention on my target. I tuned my Inner Sight and illuminated it. The trail of stars guided my line of action. The creature had just enough time to look confused before I loosed my javelin. It struck true, impaling the creature right between the eyes.

The rest of the small army noticed immediately and began charging our position with shouts and squeals of surprise. In the blink of an eye, two balls of fiery energy soared over my head and smashed clean into their targets, causing the demons to burst into flames. The demons shrieked and screeched in unbelievable pain before falling, charred and dead to the ground.

"RAKANISHU! RAKANISHU! RAKANISHU!" the little devils began to shout as a war cry, calling the green creature to them. The monster shouted something I didn't understand before it charged forward, sending lightening balls sparking in all directions, even through some of its comrades.

I readied myself, seeing as I was the only one at the bottom of the ridge and they were rapidly gaining on me. They had almost reached me when I heard Cloudyous make some type of call, it was a blowing sound. The wind began to race and I realized what he was doing. The air around me began to twist and turn violently as it manifested itself into a fierce gale. Like in the cemetery, the carvers were sucked in, banged around and then tossed wildly around in disheveled groups.

Rakanishu was the first to gain its feet, but Alminus had already taken to his as well. I watched in amazement as he took a powerful leap off the ground, like a tiger onto prey. He had to have jumped at least twenty or so feet into the air and he brought his full weight and leverage down onto the monster. His axe sliced cleanly through the monster and he shook the earth as he landed. The shockwave sent several of the carvers sprawling into the air. Lightening branched in all directions and up Alminus' axe, much to my dismay.

The shock went into his arm, but as it did the aura around his body shone brightly, and absorbed most of it. I could see Alminus' enormous muscles twitch underneath his skin and he winced slightly, but other than that, he simply shivered to shake it off.

Once the rest of the demons had recovered, they saw that their champion had fallen, and as predicted, they began to panic. And as a testament to their intellect, instead of massing to attack us where they might have stood a chance, they squeaked, and turned and ran like the cowards they were infamous for being in all directions. I didn't need to be told what to do. We couldn't let them live and run amok so I grabbed my new full length spear off my back and charged forward.

Ryelass hastily jumped down beside me and joined my charge to my right. Alminus had readied his axe and joined me to my left. Together, we began swathing a path of bladed objects into the turned backs of our adversaries. I thrust my spear roughly forward and impaled strait through one and into another. With some effort, I managed to hoist them up into the air. While grabbing my spear at the butt, I swung it like a huge sword strait into another group of demons, flinging the carcasses on it into yet more demons, knocking them onto the ground. Ryelass rolled them over roughly with his foot and then dispatched them.

Alminus had made another superhuman jump into the middle of a group of creatures and the impact knocked them over. He mercilessly stomped on them, breaking all the bones beneath his feet and squashing them flat.

I saw bolts of all types of magic: fire, ice, lightening, twisters, and barbed energy balls flying into collections of demons, rendering them all dead. Laurella was expertly firing off repetitive shots that found their marks without difficulty, and Scorpious and Maria were busy martially dealing with their opponents as well. For the most part, it was a swift slaughter. Within moments all of the demons lay dead.

Piricus didn't waste any time raising skeletons once we were done. Corpses exploded all around us as their bones were forcibly summoned from their bodies. Vendra hissed at him as guts flecked her shoes and an undead skeleton, with poisonous energies around its fists emerged at her toes.

"One guess what type of magic this one has," I heard Piricus mumble as green-yellow energy cascaded off his hands into Rakanishu's split corpse. Magically, the cleaved bones sealed back together, and a skeletal mage with lightening power emerged.

"Oh great, just what we need, more death," Vendra snapped at him.

Piricus laughed at her. "Death? No, dead is what they are when they don't move anymore. I'm giving them _life_, though you seem to be to witless to tell the difference."

"Still," Maria growled, eyeing the army he had amassed, "If you can call that twisted magic of yours life at all."

Scorpious twitched as an undead soldier elbowed him aside in an effort to come to its master. He had his hand on the hilt of his sword, but relaxed it. I could tell that he was seriously debating whether or not he should act upon this display. It was true, Piricus had summoned these creatures before, and while he clearly objected, Scorpious had acknowledged them grudgingly. But I could see why this time was different. There were a substantial amount of them this time, about fifteen or so. Ten warriors and five mages. I followed my paladin friend's thoughts to conclusion. Piricus didn't need that many warriors when he had all of us. That, and a battalion of that size meant Piricus was very powerful. He didn't stop there, he conjured up another one of his clay golems.

"Is this really necessary?" Scorpious asked aloud in discomfort.

"No," Maria said flatly, clearly objectionable as well.

"You're not scared, are you paladin?" Piricus laughed.

Scorpious' lip curled, the closest thing to an unpleasant expression I had ever seen on him. " Hardly."

"The way I look at it, we're going into a place Diablo himself was imprisoned. We already know that the warrior's pathetic little town was completely obliterated by an army of Trag 'Oul knows what. Chances are that whatever did it is still around. I'm covering my own ass paladin, and if you get in the way, kicking yours."

As if to emphasize, one of his skeletons kicked air with a snapping sound. The sound, or perhaps the motion didn't sit well with Belthem, who ran up to the skeleton snapping his jaws and barking loudly with fangs barred. The undead creature actually took a swing at the wolf, making Clouyous snarl.

"Control your creatures, Piricus, or I'll let Belthem rip them apart," he snapped with rage.

"I am controlling them, you just don't like what I'm doing. Control your mutt, druid, or I'll wear it as a coat. Mine," Piricus retorted, raising his hands, snapping all of his undead to attention, "are bigger than yours."

Nobody could argue with that, especially Cloudyous, so he reluctantly whistled, calling Belthem back to him.

"Stop wasting time," Ryelass snapped, "Deckard Cain needs us."

"Stop hindering my progress, moron, and maybe we will," Piricus spat. He snapped his fingers and walked forward, all his minions walking around him. After that confrontation, we continued up to the Cairn Stones unchallenged.

"Wow, these stones have a tremendous magical energy within them. No wonder the demons were drawn to them," Vendra stated with awe as gingerly she ran a hand over the a symbol engraved on one of the stone's surfaces.

"Yes, very powerfuly magic. Wonder how they get here," Sovellis agreed looking the circle over.

"These lands are littered with ancient magical sites. Remember the Horadrim used to be prevalent here in the west," Laurella informed.

"They used to be everywhere. They were humanity's greatest hope," Maria said with an undertone of reverence.

"And possibly our greatest failure. After the imprisonment of the three, everything fell apart. Especially the truce between the mage clans. We went from allies back to enemies and the squabbles, I imagine, only served to strengthen the Three," Cloudyous admitted out loud.

"You can't blame everything on mages," Vendra barked defensively. "Remember, it was Tal Rasha, a mage, that opted to sacrifice himself to stop Baal."

"It a story we know well," Sovellis agreed.

"Well, I agree with the warrior for once," Piricus announced plainly, making everyone give him an odd look, "the longer this irrelevant history lesson continues, the stronger the chance that this Deckard Cain will be already dead when and if we find him. I take that back, he probably is already dead, I can't imagine that some old burden would be able to fight off even one demon, let alone an army bent on destruction."

"Deckard Cain is far from a defenseless old man, Piricus, he is the last of the Horadrim," Scorpious informed simply.

There was a sudden bright blue glow as a symbol burst into light on one of the Cairn Stones. Ryelass had the scroll open and was studying it intently. He walked over to another one and placed his hand directly over the symbol. It too sprang to life with a vibrating sound. One by one, he touched all five stones.

Our immediate area suddenly darkened and the clouds began to rumble overhead. Magical lightening began to rain down all around us, striking together at the center of the Cairn Stones. The ground was shaking too, as the shockwave traveled. Within moments and with a final clap of thunder and a flash of bright light, a shimmering, orange-red portal erupted into existence. I was the closest to it, so I collected myself, took a deep breath, and stepped through.


	14. Chapter 14

-1Author's note: Here we go. I know this is a long chapter, but I find that it all flows too well together to be broken into parts. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. Thanks to all of you who continue to read and review, it really makes my day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2 and I feel that I should also mention, that the excerpt from Cain's manuscript was in the game handbook, I just modified it a bit to fit the story. It is not mine in any way, shape or form.

The Tragic Town of Tristram

Chyemme

The portal to Tristram was just like any other portal, I closed my eyes and felt the familiar sensation of motion sickness for a moment, then it was gone. I halfway dreaded what I would undoubtedly see when I opened my eyes, but I knew that I couldn't exactly walk around Tristram blind.

When I opened my eyes, I was greeted with a very grim sight indeed. The landscape before me looked as if it had once been a beautiful place, not quite a forest, not quite a field. The land was now barren and desolate. What I assumed were once trees now resembled no more than oddly contorted black masses. The earth was bare and charred black, nothing had escaped the wrath of fire. The town's many small buildings lie in ruin, some smoldering, and some still burning. I take that back. Not some, but _most_ of the city was still on fire. I can only imagine that this blaze must have been burning for days, but I didn't see how. It was as if the fire was fueled by pure malice, hatred . . . and evil.

What would have perhaps been a beautiful sunset was blackened out by the eerie, opaque columns of heavy smoke. Even the sun couldn't seem to pierce this darkness and that unnerved me a little bit. I looked around myself further, and found something even more distorted. Bodies, and lots of them, littered the ground like daisies in spring. Most were severely mangled, dismembered or decapitated, and it was obvious by the smell and by looking at them that the rot had begun to set in. The acrid smell of rancid blood and burning flesh was enough to turn my stomach almost instantly. I gagged a little bit, leaning over for the fear that I would vomit, and looking down, I jumped back in shock. I had been so preoccupied with looking around that I hadn't looked down. There, at my feet was the corpse of what looked to be a man in his fortieth turn or so, he was dressed in loose clothing with holes, a beggar by the looks of it, and his dead hand clutched at a drinking flask.

The expression he wore was somewhat strange, it was twisted with more surprise than terror. My guess was he had been solidly intoxicated when this happened, so it was a good probability that his death had been more or less painless. I wish I could have thought the same for the others. Their vacant, lifeless eyes still managed to scream out at me about the terror, the mortification, of what had transpired here. I made the mistake at gazing into the wide open eyes of a young boy, probably no older than eight turns, whom was draped over what I assumed was his mother's grotesque corpse. I stared into his chilling eyes and started to psychically hear screaming. I clenched my eyes tightly shut and shook my head vigorously. I was going to have to fight a mental battle to keep from hearing and seeing things here, where the death energies might as well have been something physical that assaulted me. Somehow, I had expected the worst and still managed to be surprised. I had seen what the Rogue graveyard had become under the influence of more or less a minor evil. I had expected nothing less from this land, and yet, there was an ominous feeling in the air, I couldn't quite place it. This whole place just felt . . .wrong. I felt that I was truly alone for a moment, entrapped in a dome of singularity. Then, out of the corner of my mind, as though from somewhere far away, I heard a voice as someone else came through the portal. It was Maria.

"Chyemme? Oh there--" she let her sentence hang as she too was slammed with the gruesome scene before us. After a moment of silence she looked at me and said, "Tristram. The first to fall to Diablo's wrath."

"Do you feel it too?" I asked her, "I can't place this feeling."

"It would be impossible not to, even for those without a mental gift. It's the darkness you feel. This is what evil feels like, pure, unchecked, and unchallenged evil. It's unnerving for those who are feeling it for the first time. And sadly, here is not a good place to be introduced to it gradually," she replied darkly.

"You seem fine," I observed.

"I'm used to this kind of thing. I've seen worse than this. Demons did this, but imagine the same thing, only with people. Imagine when human hands are responsible. . .demons are inherently evil, but I've seen people that are far darker than they are," she said grimly.

"Like who?" I asked, completely repulsed by the idea.

"Well, Prince Darkblade for one. You would have had to see the carnage to understand just how merciless this man was. I'm sure he didn't even so much as blink in remorse before she stole seven precious lives."

I shivered. "I hope that we can handle whatever's here. If this is the kind of evil we're going up against at the monastery, Zerae watch over us. Speaking of which, Maria . . . .Ryelass! He can't come here! This is going to drive him mad!" I cried in alarm.

Maria had a grave look on her face. "How are we going to stop him? My guess is that he's had ample warning about this place. I've seen a lot of men in my time, and Ryelass is one of the stronger ones. I think we just have to trust him," she reasoned, "and-"

"Keep an eye on him?" I finished for her. She nodded.

At that time Cloudyous materialized through the portal accompanied soon after by Vendra and Sovellis. Cloudyous' normally friendly but determined expression suddenly turned into one of absolute solemnity. Belthem growled softly as he sniffed the air. Bibo didn't make a sound, although the rune around her neck did give off a subtle glow, as if to protest the very air. Vendra had cringed, looking around her, most presumably more because of the corpses than because of the land. Sovellis' normally lighthearted face was replaced by one of deep seriousness.

Laurella came through next alongside Alminus who was succeeded by Piricus, then Scorpious and finally to my dismay, Ryelass. Laurella wrinkled her nose from the potency of the smell, but other than that, she looked fine. Like she had aforementioned, she had been exposed to this kind of carnage before. Alminus looked a little uneasy, but other than a quick grimace, he looked fine as well.

"Hmm," Piricus said looking around, "All that's left of proud Tristram are ghosts and ashes." He, like Maria seemed unfazed in the least. My guess was that being a necromancer he'd seen so much of this, he'd become inured to it. His gaze though, was more steely than usual.

Scorpious had remained silent for a moment, then he simply shook his head. "What a tragic end to Tristram," he said quietly. He bowed his head and uttered a soft prayer for the souls of the dead.

Not surprisingly, Ryelass looked to be the worse out of all of us. He couldn't seem to suppress the emotions that were overflowing within him. He started visibly shaking, although I couldn't tell whether it was from uneasiness or from rage.

Laurella was the first to find her voice, "Go back, please. Don't put yourself through this. I know the pain of seeing a home destroyed and having everything you once knew and loved taken away from you in a breath. It will eat at your soul and eventually send you into rage or despair. Neither are healthy. Please my Lord, go home," she said tenderly.

Ryelass looked directly at her, a powerful expression in his eyes. "I am home," he said bluntly.

"Ryelass . . . . " Alminus began, unsure of what to say. He didn't say anything for a moment, so the barbarian tried again. "Talk ta me, buddy. I'm right here," he coaxed gently. "Ryelass are ya alrigh'?" he asked in utter concern watching his friend's body language and his expressions.

"If I said I was, I'd be lying," he said at last. "This disturbing to put it lightly, but I'm more filled with rage than anything. I hope there are demons around!" He snarled loudly, trembling with rage, "Because someone or something is going to pay for this!"

"Careful what you wish for, warrior," Piricus remarked darkly.

"I agree," Scorpious affirmed. "Be careful Ryelass, vengeance rarely leads to anything good."

"Neither does inaction! Do you honestly want me to stand around and do nothing!? And if it bothers you that much, just call what I do justice! Don't tell me that you all suddenly grew a conscience about slaying demons?" Ryelass snapped, clearly more than a little agitated.

"Nobody said that, my Lord," Laurella interrupted softly. "You have every right to seek justice here, just don't let it blind you," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Surprisingly, the moment she touched him, he stopped shaking. He looked into her eyes and all the rage seemed to die out of him. Something about Laurella, possibly her age or her innocence, had a neutralizing effect on all of us. Everybody tended to take care of her and feel a certain fondness for her, save maybe Piricus, but he was mostly too absorbed in himself to really care about anyone else.

"We need to get moving," Cloudyous announced. "I can have Bibo scan the air for Deckard Cain," he offered.

"Do it. That would be a tremendous help. She can cover more ground than we can, traverse obstacles we can't, and do it in twice the time," Maria affirmed.

Cloudyous called his raven down, and she landed on his arm. He looked deep into its eyes and whistled in strange tones, then launched the bird into the air with a push of his arm. The raven fell oddly silent, then soared up and out of view.

"Now what?" Vendra asked, shifting uncomfortably. Obviously the sickly air was disturbing her.

"We wait," Sovellis answered her simply.

"Maybe we should do something other than sit here. The land is distorted, but I can still find my way around," Ryelass remarked as he tapped his foot restlessly. "My brother," he began.

"Is probably dead. I'm not going to cover your ass while you go on a Trag 'Oul forsaken chase that could get me killed," Piricus said flatly, without emotion.

"I DON'T KNOW THAT!" Ryelass exclaimed exasperated. "I won't know until I look! That's why I came here in the first place, to find him! If you don't want to help, that's fine, I will go by myself and catch up with you later! I'm tired of standing here!" Ryelass remarked crossly as he yanked his sword from the sheath and began to walk off.

"Hold on jus' a second, Ryelass. If yur goin' I'm comin' with you," Alminus called after him and trotted up to his side.

"Wait, both of you," Scorpious called in dismay, "Stay with us, we don't know what's lurking around here."

"Why don't you just let them go, paladin? It's not like we need them. They're old enough to know better," Piricus said matter-of-factly, "although age has nothing to do with intelligence."

"Something's wrong," Cloudyous announced with concern, "it shouldn't be taking Bibo this long . . . ."

"Wait," Laurella said suddenly. "Is that her?" she said squinting her eyes in the twilight, pointing to a black shape that was approaching.

Cloudyous cupped his hands around his mouth and cawed. He received an answer confirming that it was his raven. "What a relief. I was worried that--"

Cloudyous didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before a volley of arrows from somewhere nearby pierced the air. I could hear the bird cry out loudly in alarm, and then in pain as an arrow lanced her left wing. The animal began to waiver in the air for a few moments unstably, before she lost the battle she was fighting to stay aloft and plummeted downwards spiraling, having been thrown grossly off balance.

"BIBO!" Cloudyous yelled frantically. "HANG ON I'M COMING!"

Within seconds, he took off running, changing as he ran. He sprouted grayish fur and his face elongated into a lengthy muzzle, his ears moved to the top of his head and flattened, and unlike his werebear form, his hands had longer finger-like claws. He also donned a long, fluffy tail not unlike Belthem's that balanced him out as his legs lengthened. Judging by the fact he now looked more like a wolf than like a human, this must have been the much whispered about werewolf ability. If the change in itself wasn't amazing enough, the amount of grace Cloudyous had changed with while in motion at the same time was.

"Cloudyous, wait!" Scorpious yelled.

"There's no point in that. He either can't hear you, or won't listen to you if he does," Maria pointed out.

"Well then, what 'er we waitin' for!? Let's help 'im," Alminus demanded.

"Makes sense, we were going to have to move eventually. No time like the present," I agreed.

"Now we're chasing the damn druid," Piricus growled, "and all for a stupid bird."

"Suck it up or stay here Piricus," I said bluntly. "I don't expect you to understand how Cloudyous feels. That raven is one of his friends."

"He should have been a necromancer. Then he wouldn't have to worry about his minions dying, he could just raise another and then some. Don't worry, amazon. If his bird dies, I'll bring it back for him so it can exact its revenge, most presumably on him for letting it die in the first place."

I rolled my eyes. "He'd kill you before he ever let you near the body."

"Kill me? Hah! Sure he can summon animals and turn himself into a freak show, but you forget his minions are living, mine are not. When one falls, I can just raise another."

"Move it or lose it you two!" Vendra said to us as she hurried by chasing after Alminus and Ryelass, both of whom had rushed after Cloudyous without delay.

Scorpious readied his sword and shield, and I raised my round shield also. "Be prepared!" He shouted to us all and then ran after everyone else.

"Oh, I'm more than prepared, paladin," Piricus snapped. "Move," he commanded his small battalion of undead and his golem. Without so much as a wink of protest, they actually started running (I didn't know skeletons could run like that) and even overtook Scorpious, whom almost tripped in the shock of seeing them move as fast as he did. "Too bad, paladin. I was hoping that you would fall on your ever so graceful face," Piricus laughed, seeing Scorpious' hesitation.

"Stop wasting time," I snapped and ran quickly after the others around the bend. I found myself in a narrow alleyway between two houses. A bad place to be, because directly in front of us were a squadron of skeletal archers, bows poised to fire. I wasn't even able to blink before they launched the baleful barrage.

Cloudyous as expected, was in front. The arrows soared toward him, with the blades on their heads glistening. One made contact with his skin and shredded the fur on his shoulder as it grazed him, leaving a thin, but deep line of blood emerging. If there was pain, Cloudyous showed no signs of it. He still dashed forward in long, powerful strides, and for a brief second, I thought he had gone crazy and was going to let the missiles hit him. However, he timed his movements flawlessly and lunged strongly into the air, soaring over the arrows and over the first few skeletons. He caught Bibo just as she almost fell into the middle of the group. He landed hard atop the skulls of two of our would-be executioners. He flexed the claws on his paw-feet, sending his animalistic nails puncturing through the craniums and crushing them into dust as he squeezed. Without heads, even the skeletons couldn't live, so the two fell lifeless to the ground. That just left eight more, an easy task by no means.

I took aim, and launched a javelin strait toward the group. To my dismay, these skeletons seemed to be smarter than the ones we'd encountered so far. The one I was aiming for hastily swiped up with its bow, blocking my attack.

"That was pathetic, amazon," Piricus said with a laugh as he watched me.

"Well then, why don't you show me up Piricus? In this case it'd be welcome," I said, a little annoyed.

Piricus flicked his wrist and his golem turned to look a him with its large voids for eyes. "You heard her," he said with a sarcastic smile at me.

"Are those things capable of understanding human words?" I asked with a blink.

"Mine, and that's all they need to understand. And _you_ must understand that you're in the way. Move," he snapped at me, before his golem shoved me aside roughly. Being touched by the clay golem was like having a pile of wet dirt poured on you. Its hands left a slimy, muddy residue on my arm.

Once it had cleared my side, the thing lumbered forward like it was invincible. Arrows struck the summon-ling at an alarming speed but what Piricus had said about his creatures not being mortal a moment ago seemed to be the truth. Mortal creatures would have been in pain, and would have immediately been shot down where they stood. His golem, however, sucked the arrows even deeper into its body, absorbing them into its earthy mass completely and kept going.

Up ahead, I could see Cloudyous continue to act. He pulled his injured raven into his body with one arm and was slashing wildly with the other. He twisted, low to the ground and used his tail to sweep one's bony legs out from underneath it. Then, he brought up one of his long wolfish legs before crashing his paw downward, shattering the skull of his opponent.

Piricus' golem had reached him by now, just in time to have all of the remaining skeletons turn inward toward Cloudyous. That was bad. If we didn't reach him quickly and pull them off of him, then there was no way he would stand a chance. He wouldn't be able to avoid them all, even with the reflexes of a high attuned predator, and even if he jumped into the air. That, and it was obvious that he needed both of his hands to fight. On a positive note, what Cloudyous lacked in readily available limbs, Belthem made up for.

Seeing his fellow creature fall and his human friend in trouble seemed to have whipped the wolf into a frenzy. He violently lunged into the fray, snarling and biting. He succeeded in latching onto the arm of one that wielded the bow, pulling it down and sawing through it with his teeth. The arm holding the bow made a sickening crunching sound and then came off in Belthem's jaws. The skeleton, as afore mentioned, seemed to have a small measure of intelligence, for it took its other hand, which held an arrow and stabbed downwards. The blow was aligned right with the back of the wolf's neck.

It never landed however, Laurella loosed a bolt that flew right into the wrist joint of the monster, blasting it into chips and severing it completely. The hand fell limply to the earth, with the arrow still clutched there. Belthem didn't need any urging or coaching. As was primal instinct, he leapt onto the armless creature's chest, knocking it over, and then viciously tore out the bones on the creature's spine where the neck would have been, had the creature had any flesh.

Another skeleton moved in on Belthem, but it was completely broadsided by a shattering punch from Piricus' golem. The necromancer's minion groaned in what I thought was its version of battle fury and savagely, though somewhat slowly, mauled the monster. It continued to bash the thing until the bones broke into splinters. It hastily moved on to the next, slugging with boulder-like fists.

By this time, Alminus and Ryelass had entered into striking distance. Ryelass slammed his shield into the back of one undead's head, stunning it and knocking it back some. He wasted no time in ferociously slicing with his sword, cutting bone in a diagonal angle from one shoulder to the hip on the opposing side. The undead demon fell rapidly to pieces.

Alminus simply hadn't bothered using his weapon. The great man merely took hold of his great axe in one hand, and with the other he grabbed the skeletal arm of one monster that held an arrow and yanked it off with no difficulty. Dropping the arm, he then snatched the skull of his adversary, which was conveniently the size of his enormous hand, and squeezed, crushing it into dust with his bare hands. By Zerae, that man had some muscle and he used it well!

Only three monsters remained. My mistake, I thought, as I watched Belthem and the clay golem take down one skeleton in a bizarre form of teamwork, leaving only two. I briefly wondered if Piricus had been directly controlling his creature just now, because I highly doubted that he would let his minion purposely aid Belthem without showing some form of protest. While his golem was doing the work, Piricus' small army of skeletons were just standing idly by.

"Aren't you going to send them in?" I asked curiously.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why bother? Those things are going to be dead in about three seconds anyway. My golem could have taken them all out by itself. It's all the muscle I needed," he grinned.

"And the others had nothing to do with it?" I asked skeptically.

"They might have sped things up a little, so not by much," he said simply.

I snorted. "Cocky, aren't you?"

"Not at all," he said with a smirk, "I just know the strength of my minions. I created them after all, or did that fact slip your fleeting mind already?" he taunted.

"Okay Sovellis, let's--" Vendra began, drawing back her casting arm. I felt the beginnings of a fire spell on her hands, but I guess she must have thought better of it, because she released the energy not long after. Sovellis appeared to have jumped to the conclusion ahead of her.

"No, we hit them," Sovellis corrected.

"We should at least--" she protested.

"No need," Maria announced plainly on her way swiftly past them into the fight. Maria's movements, even when they required muscle such as running, were always executed with finesse. She was so graceful, all her actions seemed to flow together like liquid silk. I watched her nimbly jump into the air and vault over one of the skeletons, landing upright, and on her feet like a cat. She hastily preformed a powerful inside kick, which sent the monster's arrow flying sideways along with it's hand.

The monster used its other hand to try and bash at Maria with its bow. Nimble and quick, Maria grabbed the creature's wrist and rolled it over her own, putting downward pressure on it. The hand popped off under the leverage. My assassin friend wrenched the bow from the lifeless bone hand and in one swift movement rose it over the undead menace's head and slammed it down. It caught the creature's skull in-between the shaft of the bow and the bowstring. She flipped her wrist, twisting the weapon, effectively decapitating her opponent.

"Leave it to the assassin to turn a ranged weapon into a melee instrument," Piricus growled while he watched her.

"Use whatever you have. Sometimes you can't afford to be picky. Most people don't carry weapons around with them all the time," I pointed out.

"Some do," Piricus said bluntly. "Magic is a constant weapon. And that gives me an advantage. I'm armed with lethal force when they're not," he said with a scowl at Maria.

"Don't you know anything?" Vendra piped.

"More than you, sorceress. Yes, I am aware that bitch has psychic powers," he said curtly, taking the words right out of Vendra's mouth. "I meant the "most" people the amazon was talking about just now. Assassins," he spat with disgust, "are not like most people. They're as far from defenseless as one can get. Paladins are an easier task. Although, you must have at least a small bit of intelligence in your otherwise airy head, seeing as you're still alive. Apparently you haven't crossed one yet."

Vendra scoffed. "And you have? Contrary to what you might think, jackass, I wouldn't go down so easily if one did attack me. I'd last longer than you would," she spat.

Piricus laughed. "Care to test that? Why don't you go pick a fight with the assassin. I'll watch, wait the short time it takes for you to die, and then use your corpse to finish her myself."

"Wow," Vendra said with a growl, "So Scorpious isn't the only one on your hit list."

Piricus smirked. "Don't feel left out sorceress, keep getting on my nerves and you'll end up on there too. Though, I don't think you'd cry tears for the assassin if she died. I think you hate her just as much as I do," he said darkly, giving her a knowing look. "You're hiding something," he added, "and with your big mouth and quick temper I don't give it very long before the rest of us find out what it is."

Vendra looked at me sharply and I shook my head. I hadn't told him anything . . . .

Piricus, whom watched this reaction, looked to me and grinned slyly. "Oh, so the amazon is in on this too? You should keep your secrets to yourself sorceress, you never know when someone will betray you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied.

Sovellis looked to Vendra, confused. "What he saying?"

"Nothing of importance, as usual," she admitted.

"WATCH OUT!" Laurella shouted as the remaining skeleton locked on Cloudyous. I saw the quiver of the bowstring as it began to fire.

Wordlessly, I saw Scorpious throw his shield arm out to the side and upturn his hand like Vendra or Sovellis would do while casting a fireball. White fire flowed down his arm and accumulated into a shimmering ball that teemed with spiritual energy, just above his hand. The holy warrior took aim and forcefully tossed the ball forward. It soared through the air, aligned strait for Ryelass' body.

"Scorpious, it's going to hit him!" Vendra squeaked.

"Don't worry," he replied calmly, "it won't harm him." True to his word, Scorpious' ball went directly through the warrior, leaving not so much as a scratch. But it did collide with the skeletal archer opposite him and it exploded in a flash of light that engulfed the monster and blasted it to pieces.

"What kind of spell was that?" Vendra asked curiously.

"A holy bolt," Piricus growled, "and that's just what it was. A spell."

"It's not magic," Scorpious insisted. "It was a manifestation of my own spiritual energy. It was a collection of my faith in corporeal form. I don't use magic any more than Maria does," he corrected.

"If you say so. It was impressive, whatever it was, the way the skeleton just kind of burst like that," Vendra admitted in adoration.

"Don't!" Piricus snapped. "Don't exalt him for something so trivial!"

"I'd like to see you do something that useful, Piricus," she retorted.

"Necromancy is means to destroy things," Sovellis said with contempt.

"Imbecile," Piricus snarled. "The whole point of what I do is to _create_ things. To breathe _life_ into beings that have none. Mages are too limited with their pathetic elemental studies. You're all to ignorant to harness real power. Elements are for children, anybody can use them," he spat.

"Then why don't you use one? If you know so much? Go on, impress me," Vendra demanded.

"That's enough," Scorpious reprimanded gently. "Our time and words serve better uses presently."

"My time is my own paladin," Piricus corrected snidely.

"Then either use it to help or leave," he responded and quickly walked ahead to join the group.

"Can't argue with that. Are you coming?" I asked.

"Only with everyone else in front of me," he growled.

"You think someone would attack you or something?" I inquired, puzzled.

"Not here at least," he answered, "but I'm not going to be anyone's shield."  
"I don't know why you're worried. You've got fifteen skeletons and a golem that can protect you," I started, "and I don't want those walking behind _me_," I pointed out.

"What's the matter? Think I would attack you?" he said, mocking my earlier words.

"I wouldn't put it past you. You've done it before, remember? I don't want death energy walking at my heels," I answered.

"You're smarter than you look, amazon," he said plainly.

"I'll walk beside you," I said resolving the issue.

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug, and together we rejoined the group.

Cloudyous relented his transformation, and all his features returned to normal. Bibo was squawking and thrashing about in pain, though Cloudyous was trying to restrain her by cradling her to into his chest in an attempt to prevent her from further injury. He pinned her against himself with one arm and grabbed her injured wing in the other. Cloudyous looked her in the eyes and whistled softly. I saw his eyes take on their subtle golden glow, like they did when he spoke to Belthem. Bibo instantly stopped struggling, so he loosened up a bit, but she was still cawing in obvious discomfort.

"Someone please come here and cut the arrow," Cloudyous requested sincerely.

Ryelass sheathed his sword and grabbed one of the throwing knives out of his boot. He carefully walked over and grasped hold of the shaft of the arrow while Cloudyous held out and steadied her wing. As gently as he could, Ryelass began sawing at the arrow, until at last it was in two different pieces.

"Do you want me to take it out?" he asked.

"Not just yet. Maria do have a bandage? We'll need to stop the bleeding when it comes out," Cloudyous asked.

"Please, allow me," Scorpious offered, "I can heal her without one."

"Are you sure?" Cloudyous asked uncertainly.

"Absolutely. It won't be difficult," he assured.

At that moment, one of Ryelass' fingers accidentally brushed Bibo's wing as he withdrew his knife and she started flailing around again.

"Bibo!" Cloudyous shouted at her, protesting her current actions.

Scorpious slowly walked up, locking his eyes on the raven's own. He reached out and touched her struggling head. "Peace! I'm here to help you," he said firmly, but not harshly. Miraculously, the moment he had spoken these words and laid hands upon her head, Bibo ceased to move and laid her head limply in the paladin's hand.

Cloudyous looked on in wonder, as did we all. "Scorpious, you . . . ." he began but then nodded. "Somehow, she can understand you. It must not be what you said, but the way you said it. I've never, in all my years with animals seen them act the way they do around some of the members of this group," he said looking at Scorpious, then at me. "This is all new to me. So far, I've been the only one they trusted, and the only one they understand."

"You must be losing your edge, druid, if your minions are obeying other people's commands," Piricus said coldly. "Disobedience is punishable by death in my circle," he added darkly.

"Animals are not just some mindless minions to be controlled! They're just like people, they have personalities the same as we do! And you're making yourself look like a fool by continuing to say and act like these are my pets," Cloudyous growled.

"Alright, they're your minions then. Directly or not, they do what you tell them, that makes them subservient, and that constitutes minions to me," Piricus said plainly.

Cloudyous sighed in frustration. "I don't care what you call them, the point is that I am not an authoritarian summoner of other beings."

"I prefer it that way. I don't have to worry about mine biting me in the back when they have an off day. In fact, my underlings never have an off day, they never get emotional or tired, and they don't feel pain. I think I'd choose my minions over yours any day," he laughed.

"Everyone please be silent," Scorpious instructed. "Too much noise will scare her," he stated.

"Let me know when you're ready," Cloudyous remarked.

Scorpious nodded, then swiftly, though delicately, put one hand on each part of the arrow and removed them with a tug in opposite directions. Bibo chirped in pain, but didn't retaliate. Scorpious dropped the parts unceremoniously to the ground.

"If you would, please give her to me, Cloudyous," the paladin requested politely.

Cloudyous nodded and gently moved her from his arms into Scorpious'. Scorpious shifted her so that he held the animal in one arm and placed his other hand atop her injured wing. He began quietly speaking, chanting, in a soft, smooth voice. I saw a subtle light-blue glow envelope his hand before the blessed light rippled downward onto Bibo's wound, which began healing instantly. The blood flow clotted, and then dried up, and her flesh magically sealed itself back together, closing the hole. Incredibly, even new, sleek black feathers sprouted to cover up the skin.

I was amazed. This was the second miracle I'd seen this man work today. Bibo shuddered, ruffling her feathers, before Scorpious gently turned her upright. She wasted no time in nipping Scorpious' thumb with what I was positive was gratitude, before hopping back onto Cloudyous' forearm.

"There you have it," Scorpious said with a smile, "Good as new."

Cloudyous bowed to him. "You have my thanks, my friend, and hers as well. Isn't that right?" he asked her. Bibo crowed loudly in affirmation.

"No need for thanks," Scorpious said in earnest.

"Ask her what she saw before that disaster just now," Maria insisted. "Did she see Lord Cain?"

Cloudyous pulled the arm that the raven was sitting on up to so that she was eye level with him. His eyes and hers glowed gold for a moment. Cloudyous got a grim look on his face and then turned to address us.

"Wha' is it? Wha's wrong?" Alminus asked, deadly serious.

"Tell me he's not . . .Cloudyous is he already dead?" Vendra squeaked in dismay.

"No," Cloudyous said quickly and I gave a sigh of relief. "He's still alive, but we're going to have one hell of time getting to him."

"Why that?" Sovellis asked, though I was sure we all already knew the answer.

"He's in a cage, suspended in the air, guarded by an army of demons," Cloudyous informed gravely.

"How many and what kind?" Maria asked, calling for numbers.

"Probably more than you can handle assassin, otherwise he wouldn't have such a look on his face," Piricus said bluntly.

"About thirty carvers, three shamans, one of which seems to have special powers, about twenty five skeletons, and seven archers. But that's not the worst of it," Cloudyous relayed.

"Oh great. What now?" Vendra griped.

"There are a group of champion Night Clan right by the fountain in the town square. Five of them," he furthered.

"Champion?" Laurella asked curiously.

"A fancy name for elite demons, my lady," Scorpious related.

"Most of them are stronger, faster, and harder to kill," Maria said sternly.

"Well what are we going to do?" I asked. "It would be easier to divide ourselves into smaller groups, though there is strength in numbers we would be moving too slowly," I pointed out.

"Good point," Alminus remarked. "What do ya think, Scorpious?"

The paladin considered to himself for a moment. "Vendra, Sovellis, and Cloudyous, your magics can deal with large groups quickly. I would send you three against the carvers and their leaders. Piricus," he began waiting for the insult, but surprisingly it didn't come. Okay . . . .that made three miracles so far today and if we could rescue Deckard Cain without anyone getting hurt or killed that would make four.

"What is it, paladin, saving the real work for me?" Piricus growled in response.

"None of these tasks are trivial," Scorpious said sternly, "but I was going to fight fire with fire, and send you and your . . .minions," Scorpious stated for a lack of a better word, "against the skeletal warriors, and I'd send lady Laurella with you to deal with the archers," he strategized.

"I can do it myself, I don't need her help. And I'm sure as hell not going to be her babysitter and act as a shield for her while she's fighting," Piricus protested, eyeing Laurella with contempt. "That was your plan, wasn't it? To put our weakest link in my chain in the hopes that I'll protect her?"

"I don't need your protection, nor do I want it!" Laurella said forcefully. "Though I can understand that you're only powerful enough to protect yourself," Laurella shot back.

Vendra laughed loudly. "Take that, jackass." Piricus scowled at the young rogue, making me smile. She'd gotten him good with that one.

"So that's settled," Ryelass said with a grin at the young lady. "Now what?"

"That would leave us with exactly five party members to deal with the five champions: myself, Maria, Alminus, Ryelass, and Chyemme," Scorpious announced.

"Good, let's go!" Alminus said heartily, as everyone started to move.

"One more thing I should mention, because it's certainly not least important," Cloudyous interrupted. "Bibo says she saw something else while she was up there. She doesn't know what it was, but it scared her pretty badly and that's saying a lot. We'd best execute the utmost caution and then some."

"What could possibly be worse than elite demons?" Laurella asked with dread.

"Trust me rogue, there are far darker things than demons in some places," Piricus remarked darkly.

Maria frowned, but didn't say anything. We'd already had this conversation when we'd arrived. I knew automatically that she whole-heartedly agreed with him. I thought about what she had said about the necromancer called the Emerald Prince Darkblade, and I strongly had to wonder if Piricus really did know him or not. Though I didn't think it could possibly be Piricus himself. I mean, Piricus was tough, but I honestly couldn't see him going head to head with seven elite assassins and living. I had also no idea what to make of the name itself. Was it alluding to something, or was this guy an actual prince? If so, I couldn't see Piricus as a prince, either. If he was, wouldn't he have had more contact with his order? Wouldn't the necromancers have sent out agents to look for him? And I highly doubted Akara would have just let that fact slide. If he was a prince, for sure she would have treated him with more respect and diplomacy than she already did. Nope, looking at him, there was nothing regal about him. Though, I did notice something strange when he moved his hand. When I had first seen him on Skovas, he'd had a little, black tattoo on his palm. It wasn't there anymore. I'd ask him about it later.

Laurella shivered. "I don't want to think about it," she said, shaking the dark thoughts out of her head.

"A good idea. You need to be focused for this, everyone does. Come on, let's get this over with," Maria said plainly.

"Are we just going to charge in?" Vendra asked with a blink.

"That would be ideal," Scorpious affirmed. "That would catch them off guard and disorient them some."

"Gottcha," she said with a nod turning to Sovellis. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked.

Sovellis looked at her then at Cloudyous. "I think so. Cloudyous?" he asked.

Cloudyous nodded. "You two go high, and I'll go low?" he suggested with a grin.

"I like the way you think," Vendra said with a smile. "Got that, bear-skull?" Vendra laughed and leaned on her tiptoes to tap Sovellis' cheek, for that was the highest point she could reach on him, being that he was so tall.

"Yes, fiery one. You do you part," he said with a wink.

"Everyone ready?" Scorpious asked.

"Get a move on paladin, since you like to race headlong into things like all the rest of your moronic kind. So get going or I'll push you out in front of all the demons at once and get things started that way," Piricus threatened.

"If you're so eager, why don't you go first?" Ryelass growled.

"I'd love to warrior, just as soon as you do," he shot back.

"Let's go together, all at once, like we planned," I interrupted quickly, "I'll make it easy for you, I'll count to three," I said plainly, looking pointedly at Piricus.

"Well can you even count that far, amazon?" he asked snidely.

"Prolly better than you," Alminus laughed.

"This from someone who can't even speak properly," he snapped.

"One," I started immediately. "Two," I said as Piricus gave me an icy look. I readied my short spear and my new round shield. "Three!" I shot forward, dashing through alleyways and around houses with the others beside and behind me.

As we poured into town square, I saw the army Bibo had observed first-hand. I also saw Deckard Cain, hanging high above the cracked, dry fountain in a suspended cage. He was clearly alive, I could see him move restlessly about, but quite understandably, he looked as if he had been through hell.

Alminus gave a mighty roar and just by hearing it I felt more alert and somehow like my defenses had been bolstered. His cry heartened us, but drew the attention of the obviously surprised demons. I saw one of the hellish, bright blue Night Clan champions closest to me on the right and I diverted my charge towards it.

The thing saw me coming and savagely swiped at me with its bardiche, smashing downwards. Relying on the quality of one of my people's shields, I hastily threw it above my head to parry the blow. The force was enormous, my knees quivered from the shockwave of motion that traveled down, and the pressure knocked me down slightly.

Mustering my own strength, I pushed it into my muscles and roughly shoved upward, sliding the weapon back off my shield and away from me. The creature staggered back a bit, but swiftly regained itself and swung again, horizontally this time. I swiped my shield sideways just in time to block. This time, I was the one to stagger back. By the time I regained my balance, it had struck a third time diagonally, and I had to twist my shield arm at a weird angle to stop it. Blow by blow, the powerful demon kept gaining ground, striking harder and faster each time. I kept blocking to the best of my ability, which was becoming increasingly more difficult, until at last a forceful blow sideways knocked my shield from my hand. It went spinning well out of reach.

I yielded aside, now reduced to dodging rather than blocking. I tried in-between evading the creature's strikes to jab at it in return. Several times I hit the creature, but I might as well have been punching it and probably been having better luck that way. The creature's hide was as thick as stone, so my spear glanced right off, only managing to irritate the skin. I dodged aside once more, but the demon surprised me. It took hold of its weapon in one hand and, freeing up the other, it grabbed me by the top of my leather chest piece, hoisted me into the air effortlessly, and tossed me like ball. I soared through the air and landed roughly on the ground. I managed to turn my body so that I caught myself on my hands and feet in a push-up position. But, that still hadn't gotten me out of the dirt and back to my feet.

The monster quickly chased after me and swung down with its weapon, now having the advantage of high ground. I hastily flipped myself over and rolled aside. Before I could actually regain my feet, it raised its poleaxe high overhead. I saw an opportunity and went for it. I hastily shoved the butt of my spear into the creature's gut from the ground. The demon leaned heavily forward, losing its breath, and I smacked the blunt end of my weapon right under its jaw, causing its head to jerk up sharply. Then, since the butt of my weapon was already in the air and the spear tip was already pointing down, I stabbed downward and caught the creature in the flesh right above the hoof. This must have been a sensitive spot, for the point bit strait through and blood began oozing out. I withdrew my weapon swiftly and the creature brayed in pain before dropping its weapon, grabbing its foot and hopping around, and eventually losing its balance and falling hard onto the ground next to me.

I called upon the training of my mother in the ways of Zerae, goddess of lightening. I called up some of my spiritual energy and ran an electric charge through my weapon. Lightening crackled at the charged tip of my spear before I quickly rolled over and shoved my weapon into the chest of the fallen creature. As predicted, the blunt force hadn't been enough, but the lightening was. It burned a hole in the flesh it impacted, giving way for the rest of my spear to plunge deeply into its internal organs. Blood gushed forth and lightening coursed through it, effectively electrocuting my fallen opponent and leaving me unharmed. With no more immediate threat to my safety, I swiftly returned to my feet and grabbed my stray shield, turning to see how the others were fairing.

Maria had attacked the green champion next to me. I saw the creature swing downward at her, and she immediately crossed her katars together above herself and caught her enemy's weapon between them. Using incredible muscle and psychic energy, from what had undoubtedly come from many, harsh, and disciplined years of training, she kicked the monster right in the midriff. It flew backwards and as it did, Maria twisted her katars, effectively wrenching its weapon from its grasp. She grabbed the weapon by the shaft, and broke it into two pieces over her knee, tossing the two pieces nonchalantly behind her. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that these new evils were quicker, smarter, and stronger than the rest.

The demon regained itself almost instantly and even without its weapon, bellowed loudly and charged forward with its horned head down. Maria was fast, but somehow the demon managed to be faster. It head butted her directly in the chest and one of its horns pierced a short ways into her body right beneath the collar bone. She cried out in pain, although pain didn't impair her ability to function. She grabbed the creature's horn with one hand, and putting pressure on it to steady it, she sliced down strongly with her opposite katar, cleanly severing it. The demon staggered back, off balance, but then refolded and swung a fist at her. She ducked and with a sharp intake of breath, yanked the piece of horn out of her chest. Blood began welling up and dripping down her chest, but true to assassin reputation, she paid no heed to it and focused on her battle and her opponent.

She swiftly dodged one fist, but was decked by the other right in the side. This time, she was the one who went flying, with a loud snapping sound. She got to her feet, but grabbed unconsciously at her side in reflex. Assassin or not, Maria was still human, and though she didn't scream or cry, pain was written all over her face. Some of her ribs, if not all of them, had been broken on one side.

I had to help her, but how? I reached back for one of my javelins and realized unpleasantly that I only had one left. I only had one shot, and just the javelin itself wouldn't do anything. I quickly debated what I should do. I could turn my javelin into a bolt of pure lightening, but while my own lightening wasn't harmful to me, it would spark through anything and everyone else. Maria's katars were metal, and although she undoubtedly had powerful resistances to magic given what she was, she was having to direct her mental energies elsewhere. Lightening was a bad idea, even if I did hit my target perfectly, I'd likely end up hurting Maria too. I still had Felph Flowers In my pouch from the amazon isles, I could poison my javelin with their pollen, but then again, there was no way I could prevent Maria to exposure to it as well. The only other thing I could think of was to literally charge in and jump on top of the monster.

And that's what I ended up doing. It closed in on Maria and I ran forward and slammed my entire body weight into the thing's side, while desperately stabbing my lightening charged weapon at the demon. It cried out in pain, but then to my shock, grabbed my spear and pulled it further into its own body with such force that it broke in half. I staggered backwards, holding only the blunt end of my spear. The creature then yanked the weapon from its chest, and flung my own spear at me with such speed, it barely missed me as I chart-wheeled off to one side. Don't ask me how, but the demon managed to move to the exact spot I landed and I received a full fist in the gut.

I coughed as air left my lungs and I lurched forward. My armor had absorbed most of the attack, but the secondary effects were still powerful. As I hunched over, the creature grabbed my shoulders and hoisted me up into the air, shaking me violently, and crushing me in its iron grasp. Something snapped under the pressure and fiery pain shot up into my right shoulder. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, but tears of reflex welled up in my eyes. I tried to rotate my shoulder, but the more I tried, the more agony I caused myself. Also, it was moving at an odd angle. Clearly it had been dislocated and popped out of the socket.

I struggled with the full rest of my body, hitting, kicking, and scratching anything I could reach, although to no avail. One of the monster's hands slid up to my head and it snatched me, but instead of trying to crunch my skull, I saw its muscles spasm and it abruptly dropped me ungracefully onto my butt.

I looked up and lightening was crackling all over the demon, originating from the triangular blade poking out through its stomach. The lightening blinded me for a moment before Maria yanked her katar roughly from the hellish creature's body, placing her foot on its back and peeling the carcass off of her weapon. I didn't need her to tell me to move, I quickly scrambled backwards to avoid the thing falling on me. Maria must have figured out by watching me that lightening was a weak spot, and had somehow managed to charge her weapons with it. Briefly, I wondered how that worked. I wondered how Maria could enchant her weapons like that without using magic like Vendra or Sovellis and still manage to produce impeccable results. But now was not the time and place for curiosity, and my shoulder hurt with a vengeance, making it difficult to think of anything else. I looked to Maria, she was standing a little awkwardly, but other than that she looked fine.

"How did you?" I asked as she pulled a healing potion from her belt and tapped it. "Oh," I said simply.

She walked over to me, potion in hand. "Be still as best you can. I'm not going to lie, this is going to hurt, but I have to set your shoulder before we can heal it. Otherwise drinking this would be pointless," she said plainly.

I nodded and bit down on my lip. "I'm ready."

Without so much as a nod, Maria grabbed my arm with one hand and placed the other behind my shoulder blade to brace it. She pushed sharply up and over and I heard a creaking sound before immense pain wracked my body. I hissed through gritted teeth, but mercifully, she handed me the potion immediately. I drank it without a second thought and instantaneously I felt better and more lively. Maria extended a hand out to me, which I took as she helped me back onto my feet. We turned to aid the others without delay.

Scorpious had engaged a brightly colored purple demon to our left, a strange color even for a demon. How exactly did they turn these colors anyway? My guess was that demonic magic must have warped them somehow. We watched as the two combatants exchanged blows, neither seeming to gain ground. The monster swung at an unnatural angle that was only possible for a demon, and managed to catch Scorpious' shield arm right above the elbow and under his shield. It was a glancing blow, and most of it was absorbed by his plated armor, but it left a sizeable dent nonetheless, and I saw Scorpious wince. The force of the blow must have still hurt, even under all the armor. My intuition told me he was going to have a serious bruise there. Like any true warrior, he shook it off quickly.

Scorpious sideswiped his targe with enough force to knock the demon's hand out to its side. He yelled something and raised his hands. I watched as several ethereal balls of light emerged from the ground, out of some of the slain bodies that lie skewed about, and some manifested from the air itself. I heard soft, humming sounds coming from the balls, and I realized that these orbs were alive and possessed immense spiritual energies. Realization dawned on me, and I knew with some shock what they were.

"Maria!" I exclaimed in surprise, "Are those--?"

"Souls? They must be, although I've never actually seen them like this before. They must be the spirits of the innocents that fell here. They definitely aren't evil, they're teeming with righteous energy," she remarked, although not without a tone of awe herself.

The souls seemed to be drawn to Scorpious like a central magnet, they floated to his side, and then washed down his sword in an elegant flow of light. The sword absorbed them and began to shine with unparalleled brilliance. When Scorpious swung again into the demon's exposed chest, his blade burst into flame, searing the flesh of his opponent. He refolded and gracefully, but powerfully slashed across the other side of the monster's chest. This time, lightening arched out of his blessed sword and burned a bloody gash atop a part of the first. Scorpious rolled his sword over in his hand, pulled back his arm, and then thrust it forward. The white mist of ice twirled around his weapon as he plunged it directly into the bloody "X" he had carved into the demon with his last two blows. Ice burst into existence and rippled out over the monstrosity's body and evidently into its blood as well, because its movements became stiff, then its limbs locked up, and finally the whole thing froze into an icy statue. With a shout and a burst of light from his sword, Scorpious quickly decapitated it. The whole thing fell to the ground and shattered into hundreds of pieces.

"Incredible," I said as I observed.

"The souls lent him their power so that he might enact vengeance upon the unjust," Maria replied as she looked In in interest.

"AHHRH!" came a shout as Alminus rushed his target, a light brown demon, with his full weight behind the attack. His axe smashed edge upon edge with the creature's bardiche, and they became locked in a fierce grappling match. Alminus would push forward, and the demon would too, neutralizing the effect. Then, quite intelligently for a demon, the creature raised a leg and kicked Alminus in the knees with a cloven hoof and the velocity of an enraged stallion. Out of reflex, his knees twitched and then he fell over backwards with his axe out to one side. The demon quickly stomped down on his axe arm, right on the wrist. It gave way with a loud "_snap_". Alminus must have had an extraordinary tolerance for pain, because he only winced and then gave a shout of rage. The demon swung down at him, and Alminus, in a feat of amazing timing, skill, and speed, hastily used his other hand to grab the weapon right below the blade, stopping it just inches from his nose. For moments he struggled with all his might, I could see his powerful muscles visibly shaking.

"Here," Maria said urgently and tossed me some metallic wire and the piece of the Night Clan's horn that she had dislodged from her chest earlier. "Tie that on quickly. Our weapons won't work on them, but their own will. These demons, especially the males, use their horns to fight each other with. I know this will work," she explained in haste.

"Right," I said quickly and speedily attached the horn to the tip of my sole remaining javelin. I took careful aim, though it wasn't particularly difficult because the demon wasn't moving around too much. Instead, it was standing in one spot, still pressing down on its poleaxe. It was hell-bent on crushing Alminus. Effortlessly an pain-free, I rotated my revitalized shoulder back, put some muscle and skill behind it, and launched my javelin forward. It was all over for the demon in moments, horn-tip first, the whole projectile lanced through its neck, from side to side. The demon fell over sideways, with its legs over Alminus' feet. The barbarian groaned then roughly shoved the heavy corpse off of him with his good hand. He stood and brushed himself off.

Scorpious strode over to him quickly and held up Alminus' gargantuan arm in one hand, and as he had done with Bibo, he placed the other one over Alminus' wrist. A subtle, pulsating glow radiated off his hands and absorbed into the skin around Alminus' injury. There was a cracking sound as Alminus rotated his wrist back into place, before flexing it without pain.

"Thanks, Scorpious," he said in gratitude.

"Anytime, my friend, " Scorpious replied in earnest.

There was a loud, goatish cry and an enraged shout. All of us looked over to see Ryelass fighting the remaining sky-blue demon intently. He parried blow after blow successfully, managing to give only minimal ground. However, the demon leaned over and pushed him roughly with its weapon right across his chest. Ryelass out of all of us seemed to have the best balance, while the attack did knock him back, he regained himself almost instantly. He took a step back to brace himself, but when he did, he stepped on an outstretched arm of a corpse on the ground. He took an instant to look over what it was he had stepped on.

It was a middle-aged man, by the looks of it. The man wore blood-soaked robes that had once been white, and I could make out faint, gold swirls on the edges and the chest. He had white hair, and a pale complexion, although I couldn't tell whether he had been bled white or that his skin had once been fair. His vivid blue eyes I could tell had once burnt bright with inner light, but now in death, cold, empty darkness filled them. His face was twisted into a scream and he had an arrow through his neck and in his eye, which made the whole rest of his face stained brown with dried blood. He looked as if he had also been blasted with fireballs, some of his skin was burnt and so were his clothes. Everything on this body had been maimed or disfigured, save a single hand on his left side. The hand alone didn't have any mark upon it, like gods themselves had saved it on purpose. The hand was smooth and soft-looking. My Inner Sight twinged, and I saw that same hand running over an injury on some nameless figure's forearm. Like Scorpious, this man healed people. And I could sense that he had been a kind, gentle person, always there to help when needed.

Ryelass must have known this person because he shouted his name in rage. "PEPIN!" Ryelass' face looked absolutely feral with bloodlust, and he charged the demon, and began to attack it with hell's fury. I had never seen Ryelass fight the way he was now.

The monster lashed out at him with its bardiche, and he swiftly yielded to one side and grabbed the demon's wrist with his inside hand. Then, he forcefully and with the same arm, pulled back, slamming his elbow backwards into the creature's face. It gave a short out-heave of breath and staggered backwards, though Ryelass didn't release its hand. He raked one of the edges of his sword sharply across the thing's knuckles, leaving only a thin line of blood, but managing to hit the nerves just enough to make the creature drop its weapon, which he furiously kicked out of his way. Still holding the creature's wrist, he yanked it forward mightily, using the momentum, and bashed it in the head with his shield. Next, he fiercely kicked the stunned demon in the midriff, sending it away from him a good ways.

While the demon was dazed, he grabbed a bottle of clear liquid from a pouch at his waist and then a piece of flint. He smashed the bottle over his sword, smearing the liquid down the length of his blade, and then sharply ran the stone down the edge of his weapon. Sparks crackled and one of them caught the liquid and ignited his entire sword on fire, minus the insulated handle, in a blaze of inferno. The creature recovered just in time for Ryelass to hack into the arm that the demon tried to block with, setting it ablaze. The monster howled in pain, and drew its arm back, gushing blood. Ryelass then savagely swiped its knees with his heated blade and tore through flesh and sinew like parchment . The monster collapsed to the ground, shrieking. Ryelass expertly twirled his flaming sword in his hand, so that the point was down. Then, grasping the weapon in both hands he jammed down into the creature's open mouth, causing the thing's head to catch fire and it burned alive. Ryelass looked up at us with a brighter fire in his eyes than the one that burned on his sword.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" an elderly voice yelled frantically. Deckard Cain had taken notice of us, and was flailing about wildly within his confinement. A stray arrow from one of the archers Laurella had apparently yet to deal with, pierced through the bars, dangerously close to his head.

Ryelass snatched a scroll of town portal from Scorpious as he tossed it over to him. Ryelass yanked off the blue ribbon, shouted something, and tossed the scroll at the foot of Cain's cage, which burst into a shimmering blue portal. Ryelass raced immediately to the side of the cage, dodging deadly arrows on the way, and severed the rope that suspended the prison in one fiery swing. The cage clattered quickly to the ground, tossing the old sage around, but he regained himself quickly as Ryelass yanked open the door.

"Ryelass! Is that you?" the old man exclaimed in surprise as he looked into the warrior's face.

"Elder Cain, get out of here! The rogues will take you in!" Ryelass shouted above the din.

The old man didn't need any more encouragement, he hastily stumbled to and through the portal, which closed behind him, giving us a clear view ahead of us to the battles that raged there.

Cloudyous, Sovellis, and Vendra were trying to blast and bash their way into the army of carvers, attempting to get to the shamans. Cloudyous uppercutted one waist-high demon into the air, catching it under the jaw and quite obviously breaking its neck. It was dead before it hit the ground. Another of the little devils rushed him. With his free hand, Cloudyous grabbed the monster's sword hand at the wrist and yanked the being off the ground. He gripped his knuckles around the shaft of his club, balling his hand into the fist around his weapon, and punched the little menace repeatedly in the face. He tossed the dazed demon, and the thing flew backwards into a group of its allies, which all fell over. Cloudyous hastily ran past them and dived at the closest shaman, having momentarily cleared his way.

The devil hurled a massive fireball at him, but I both saw and heard a strong gust of wind wrap itself around Cloudyous. The fireball hit his cyclone armor and the flames were blown sideways around him and then burnt out. Before the monster could attack again, Bibo dived furiously out of the sky and snatched the thing's staff in her talons. Not surprisingly, the creature didn't want to relinquish its weapon and jerked it back, starting a fierce game of tug-of-war. The demon swiped at the ebony bird with one hand and grabbed her wing. Without letting go of the staff, Bibo responded by snatching the thing's fingers in her razor sharp beak and vigorously shaking her head. Blood fountained forward as the pressure of her bite snapped the bones in the demons hand and broke deeply into the skin. Surprisingly, the demon still didn't release the staff, even though it was howling in pain. Out of limbs, the monster leaned over and tried to bite her with needle-sharp teeth. Bibo squawked shortly, her version of an amused snort. Like a snake, and just as fast, the raven shot her head out, opened her mouth and plucked out the demon's evil, red eyeball. If the monster had been howling before, it was thundering now. Black demon's blood was pouring out of the socket and this time, the creature immediately surrendered its hold on the weapon, bringing both hands up to its face. Bibo spit out the disgusting eyeball abruptly, cawed loudly, and then flew a short ways up with the staff as Cloudyous arrived to finish the adversary. Blinded and in pain, the shaman didn't even resist as Cloudyous slammed his club into its neck, snapping it instantly.

Similarly, Vendra and Sovellis were making their way towards the other two shamans. Sovellis was going after the one to the left and Vendra was going after the unique one in the center. As a whole, they were able to swath a path through their enemies much quicker than Cloudyous had. Groups of the demons encircled both of them. Vendra's lips moved, although I couldn't hear what she said. It immediately became apparent what she did, frost burst forth around her in a ring, freezing her enemies into icy figurines. She picked up the end of her short staff in both hands and twirled around on her toes in a circle, swinging her staff like a sword and breaking the demons into crystal dust.

Sovellis didn't need to freeze his opponents, he merely chanted something loudly, and a nova of lightening rippled out from his waist, frying all the demons instantly. With his way unblocked, he called forth his lightening power again and it crackled down the length of his arm into his fingers, before he dispelled it into the shamans chest, catching it in the middle of the act of trying to raise a carver. The small army of monsters had been reduced to five and the last shaman. It should have been a breeze for them, Vendra was already right there, but today was a day full of surprises.

The brightly colored shaman raised its hands and yelled loudly. A sickly gold light sprayed from its hands, covering the entire of the small area they were fighting in. The demons they had killed magically re-grew bones, re-melded seared flesh, and even the fragments of ice somehow found their way perfectly back together. All thirty of the little demons stood revitalized. But most shocking of all, so did the shamans!

The monsters all raced toward Cloudyous, Sovellis, and Vendra, screeching in fury. The shaman that still had its staff was flinging fireballs. Bibo still had the other one's weapon. She flew low, then dropped it into one of the burning houses on the right, destroying it. In-between ducking fireballs and dodging blows, Cloudyous and Sovellis managed to strike down a few of the band, but they were fighting a losing battle. As soon as one fell, the shamans just raised it again.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Vendra yelled, infuriated. She bashed powerfully to one side, smashing one, and then she crashed onto the other side, hitting one there as well. She jammed the end of her short staff into the gut of the one in front of her, sending it flying. She was now face-to-face with the enchanted shaman.

"Vendra, be careful! We don't know what kind of powers it has!" Cloudyous shouted in warning.

Vendra apparently hadn't given that notion any thought, because just as he said those words, she kicked up at the thing's staff, trying to knock it away. The demon grabbed her leg and squeezed. I saw frost creep up its arm onto Vendra's leg, which began rapidly freezing into an icy cast. Vendra yelled out in shock, and thrown off balance, she fell over.

"Night Claw! Night Claw! Night Claw!" the little demons began to chant wildly. The demon, most presumably Night Claw, slammed its staff down toward Vendra, whom rolled aside. Luckily, the sorceress seemed to have some kind of inner warmth because the ice around her leg was already melting and cracks were already forming in the ice. It may have been melting, but not fast enough. The demon stomped down hard and Vendra was barely able to dodge in time, hindered by the weight of the ice around her leg.

Sovellis got a serious look on his face, and in the blink of an eye he vanished from amidst the group of demons around him. I caught sight of him again as he materialized right behind the demon, Night Claw, and slammed his staff into the middle of the creature's back just as it was about to strike Vendra a crushing blow. Ice flowed from the creature's skin onto the staff as the demon whirled on Sovellis. The sorcerer shot his hand forward and sprayed a jet of fire into the monster's front. Much to our dismay, the fire hit the frost on its skin and succeeded only in melting it into water. Sovellis didn't seem discouraged though, he actually smiled. I smiled too when I realized what he was doing. Water was a perfect conductor of electricity. Sovellis summoned lightening and channeled it through his staff directly into the creature's body. To say that the demon received a powerful zap would be an understatement.

By this time, Vendra had run a fiery hand over her leg, melting the ice enough, so that when she flexed it, the frosty brace shattered. The charred demon fell unceremoniously on top of her, making her squeak in disgust. With some effort she managed to roll it off of herself. Sovellis leaned down and offered her hand, which she batted away.

"So now you help me? After you just dropped a demon on me? I can get up myself," she growled.

"Hurry then, Vendra. They coming this way," Sovellis remarked and gestured to the small army of Carvers charging their position.

"Wha--Whoa!" she yelped, getting a good look. She hastily grabbed her friend's arm and sprang to her feet.

"Are you guys ready?" Cloudyous yelled as he swatted a demon away forcefully with his club. "Forget the shamans! Let's just wipe them all out together so then nobody gets resurrected!" he continued, lashing out at three monsters at once.

"We are! We come to you," Sovellis assured. He and Vendra disappeared on the spot and reappeared next to Cloudyous. All three took a swing with their blunt weapons simultaneously, clearing their immediate space.

"We'll go high," Vendra said as she and Sovellis raised their staves and crossed them above their heads. Lightening sparked from both weapons and branched high overhead into the sky. The dark clouds seemed drawn by the power of the mages' spell, and descended upon us. As if an answer to the staves' crackling call, the clouds overhead thundered and fierce lightening flashed within them. Not long after the dark shadow of the clouds fell on the ground, lightening began pouring down like rain, scattering the demons as they wildly dodged around, seeking cover. The lightening easily electrocuted half of the hapless demons and the weaponless shaman. The other raised up its hands and began to chant.

"Not this time, demon," Cloudyous growled. He squatted down and placed both of his hands, palms-down onto the blood-soaked earth. His hands gave off an earthy brownish-green glow around the heel, a glow that swiftly shot out along the ground under the carvers in a strait line.

For moments, nothing happened and the glow faded. But then, I felt an enormous rumble beneath out feet as some massive force rolled underground. I blinked in disbelief and had to do a double-take as the earth rolled, and then split directly down the trail of Cloudyous' energy! He had just been able to rend the very crust of the earth itself! And sure enough, as one might expect from a gap that deep, fire shot out in short jets of inferno, moving down the gap in waves. Some of the demons fell into the fiery chasm and were burned so badly that not even ashes remained. Only about five or so demons remained, without the last shaman, which had fallen into Cloudyous' fissure. Lightening claimed two more and drove the remaining three to the edge of the fissure. The stupid demons must have known that they couldn't jump the gap, but they tried anyway. They timed their leaps poorly at that, and jumped just as the wave of flame sprang forward, charring them all into black dust mid-air.

With that taken care of, Vendra and Sovellis lowered their staves, which stopped sparking. The thunderstorm ceased and the clouds ascended back into the twilight sky. Cloudyous clapped his hands together and the molten flames instantly died, and with a mighty shake, the earth rumbled back together, becoming solid once more without so much as a trace of where the mighty chasm had been only moments ago. The three of them looked to us.

"Everything is well?" Sovellis called to us.

Scorpious nodded. "Yes, are you three alright?" he called back.

Vendra nodded, looking to the men on either side of her. "Yes, we're fine. I'm not sure about them though," she affirmed and pointed up a short distance and to the right where Piricus, his minions, and Laurella were fighting.

Their battle was a little further along than ours had been. Laurella had already killed four archers, but the remaining three had forced her behind the corner wall of a smoldering house nearby. She was tentatively taking shots at them, although each time she did, three deadly arrows would come flying at her, barely missing, and clattering to the ground as they hit the stone wall. At this rate, she'd run out of bolts before she managed to strike down her targets.

She appeared to be contemplating something though, and I guess she decided to do it. Carefully timing her attackers, she waited until they were reloading their bows, then jumped out at them firing her own weapon. She hit one right between the eye sockets, killing it instantly. The other two fired, and I saw her do what she had been debating. She reached over to her left and seized one of Piricus' skeletal mages that was in the middle of flinging a fireball, and shoved it roughly in front of herself. The fireball the skeleton had been casting went understandably sideways, but it smashed into an archer nonetheless. The skeletal archer burnt into bone dust, but in fair exchange, the two arrows of her enemies instantly shattered the skull of the skeletal mage.

I quickly looked to Piricus and so did Laurella, but mercifully, he was busy fighting a battle of his own so he hadn't noticed. I was glad, and I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him what had just happened. There was no telling what he might do. I seriously doubted that he would actually hurt her, but he might cast a curse of some kind on her like he did to me when we first met, that would make life more difficult for her. Receiving no retribution from Piricus, Laurella took the opportunity to finish off her opponent. She fired a bolt that smashed into the spine of the last archer, slicing its head cleanly off. She turned to survey Piricus' situation.

By my count, Piricus had lost four of his mages, if you included the one that Laurella had used for a shield just now, and five warriors. He still had one mage, five warriors and his golem left, and that was saying a lot, because in the beginning his opponents had outnumbered them nearly two to one. The returned skeletons had also suffered their fair share of loss, there were only ten of them left. Bone axes crashed against ancient, rusty metal swords as each of Piricus' remaining creatures engaged one of the enemy undead that remained. Some of the creatures fought two at once, such as Piricus' golem. That thing was damn near invincible in my mind's eye. Hitting the thing with bone, steel, or stone was like trying to cut wet mud. The creature would just slide itself back together. Somehow though, the golem did manage to become solid, at least in its fists when it attacked, anyway. The golem punched a yellowish skeleton solidly in the face, knocking its head cleanly off. The other opposing undead swung with its sword and caught the golem in a hulky shoulder, managing only to get its brittle weapon lodged there. It tried to pull back on its weapon, but the sword broke in half. Feeling no pain, the golem didn't even bother to pull the protruding metal object from its body, it just continued on the offensive without a second thought. Raising both hands overhead and clasping them together, it bashed the second skeleton powerfully on top of the skull, crushing it so thoroughly that it fell down into a separate pile of bones.

Having destroyed two opponents, the golem moved to help the remaining mage, which had been rapidly advanced upon by a returned warrior. Its magic was potent, but it was my understanding that the mages lacked the constitution of brothers-in-arms. This roused a curious thought to me. Did skeletons actually have gender? Instead of brothers-in-arms did they have sisters-in-arms or a mix of both?

At any rate, the mage cast a poison ball and it struck the creature, and it started to decomposed the bones, but not before the enemy undead swiped with its old sword and dismembered Piricus' last remaining mage. Though, after its final swing, the poison claimed the skeleton just as the goliath of a golem reached it. Having no current target, the golem moved on to the next.

I saw Piricus cast one of his fanged balls into a skeleton that had just destroyed one of his, killing it instantly. I watched as one more of the skeletons dealt a final blow to one of Piricus' and then come after him. It advanced upon him from behind, though Piricus must have sensed it coming, because he turned around just in time to lock the edge of his dagger on the blade of the skeleton's sword. They struggled for a moment before Piricus managed to shove the creature back and raise his dagger high overhead, point down poised to strike. He never got a chance because Laurella shot a bolt under his arm into the skeleton's neck and it fell apart. Piricus turned around and scowled at her.

"You're welcome," she called at him, and he turned his back to her with a snort.

"I didn't need your help, rogue! It seems that all you are good for is needlessly wasting ammunition," he growled as the remaining five of his skeletons and his golem set on the last remaining monster. Then, as an act practically unheard of, the intelligent skeleton turned around and hurried behind the corner of a flaming house right beside Laurella. Though Piricus' undead sauntered after it, Laurella was closer.

She smiled pointedly at Piricus. "Don't worry, I'll get it," she volunteered and walked around the corner.

That's when I felt it. Something wasn't quite right . . . .no. Something was terribly wrong. My Inner Sight gave a twinge of warning and I immediately turned to Maria. She and I locked gazes momentarily, but before either of us could react Laurella let out an ear-piercing scream which jarred us all to action. Even Piricus responded. I expected him to be still, and leave Laurella to get herself out of the trouble she was in, but he and his small group were the closest ones to her and raced after her without delay, though not without Piricus sighing and rolling his eyes first. Seeing such an act from Piricus made me almost too shocked to move. I coughed when Alminus patted me heavily on the back, snapping me back to my senses.

"Now's not the time ter be daydreamin'!" he said quickly.

"LAURELLA!" Ryelass shouted in alarm, mirroring everyone's thoughts as he charged forward with his sword still burning.

"WHAT IN HELL!" I heard Piricus shout in what was clearly surprise, and unease.

I didn't need to be told to run, and I was around that corner in the blink of an eye. I stopped dead in my tracks and so did everyone else. There stood what I saw sure had once been a man, because at least part of him remained intact. One side of his face, one of his arms, and one of his legs were perfectly human, but the rest of him was charred and disfigured, and that was putting it lightly. The contrast was twisted, sickening, and definitely disturbing. In my mind's eye it was the biggest and sickest abomination of evil we had yet to encounter. He was a big man, he wore ratty dull red clothing with holes and burns. One of his boots was open at the toes, revealing toes that looked as if they were about to fall off from decay. To make matters worse, the undead abomination had seized Laurella by the throat and was crushing the life out of her while she dangled helplessly in the air. To top it all off, they were both suspended in a pale, sickening red glow, and Laurella looked as if every moment might be her last. That creature was cursed somehow. Bibo cawed loudly and flapped her wings wildly. This must have been the thing she had been afraid of, and for good reason.

"GOD ALMIGHTY!" Scorpious cried out in alarm. "PIRICUS!" he thundered, believing that the curse was off Piricus' doing.

"Don't yell at me you damn moron!" he hissed loudly, "I didn't do anything, but I'm about to. All of you," he snapped to his minions. "Go!" He commanded and they all lumbered forward.

"It wasn't him!" I cried out, "That creature is--"

"Cursed," Maria finished for me with a grim expression on her face.

"No . . . ." Ryelass breathed, making everyone turn to him. He looked as if someone had shot him through the heart with an arrow. "It can't be!" He said, clearly stunned beyond all reckoning.

"Well obviously it is, warrior! Snap out of it, or I'll have my skeletons help you out with that!" Piricus snarled.

"It can't be what? Ryelass . . . .do you know him?!" Vendra asked in alarm.

"GRISWOLD!" Ryelass shouted in horror, every inch of his face was plastered with it.

"HELP ME!" Laurella chocked out weakly, her weapon lie broken on the ground beneath her.

Ryelass shook his head, his horror had given way to fury. "GRISWOLD, PUT HER DOWN!" he thundered.

"There's no use in that, Ryelass," Cloudyous exclaimed quickly.

"He not himself anymore!" Sovellis finished for him.

"ARGH! GOD DAMNIT!" Ryelass bellowed, "WHY! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE YOU TOO!"

"Ryelass . . . " Laurella squeaked, grabbing Griswold's hand with both of hers, trying to pull him off of her.

By this time, Piricus' small battalion had reached her. They had only gotten within six feet of her before the strange curse washed over them. All of their movements were slowed greatly as they approached the monster. The skeletons started swinging, although they had been weakened somehow. Their bone axes and swords broke into chips upon contact with the creature's flesh. Weaponless, they still tried to bash the creature, before it turned the tables on them. Not relinquishing his hold on Laurella in the slightest, the being called Griswold smashed into the bodies of the skeletons with his free hand, shattering them all upon contact. Piricus cursed loudly, and we watched as his golem now fought alone, bashing the monster with its muddy fists, for all the good it did. Griswold didn't even flinch and he grabbed the golem by the head and squeezed. The curse seemed to become more powerful upon contact, the energy soaked into the golem's surface and its head exploded from the pressure. The whole thing fell apart into a lump of mud on the ground.

Piricus conjured a fanged ball on his hand. "There's no way in hell this won't work!" he snarled and went to throw it.

"No!" I said quickly. "You'll hit Laurella too and with her weakened state, you'll likely kill her!"

"She got herself into this mess and she obviously can't get herself out, so I should think she'd be willing to take the chance!" Piricus hissed.

"Don't! Please don't!" I pleaded.

He blinked. "And since when should that stop me? Why should I? I'm the only one not concerned about hitting her, so I'll be the one that has the most effect on the monster," he said simply.

"This is Laurella's life you're toying with! If you throw that and it hits her, my fury will make you wish you'd been killed by the demons back there!" I growled and grabbed his wrist.

"Maybe I should, just to see you try that. I think it would be amusing," he said with a sadistic smile. "Let go of my hand, amazon, or I'll loose this energy into your arm instead," he said coldly and pried my hand off of his with an icy touch, though he let the energy on his hand dissipate. "If you die, I'm going to raise you as one of my minions to replace the ones I've lost," he growled.

"HANG ON LAURELLA!" Ryelass yelled, bringing our attention back to the situation at hand. He snapped his sword out in front of him, leaving a trail of smoke and charged forward without another word before anyone could stop him.

"Ryelass, wait!" Scorpious yelled in concern.

"Wha's the point in that? We need ter help her now!" Alminus roared and began to make his way after her.

Scorpious grabbed his arm and pulled him back, a testament to the paladin's own physical prowess, because he was able to actually Alminus despite his gargantuan size and weight. "Wait! We will, but we'll do it from afar! You saw how easily that thing destroyed Piricus' minions!"

"I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF! I'LL KILL HIM! I'M THE ONE THAT SHOULD DO IT, HE WAS MY FRIEND I WILL PUT THIS RIGHT!" Ryelass shouted with rage from ahead of us. He reached the edge of the curse's radius and it took effect on him too. Each step he took became increasingly more labored, and he slowed considerably. He reached the monster and swung his flaming sword, though it was a weak swing at best. The blow did catch the monster in the arm, but the metal glanced off without leaving a scratch. The cursed creature did however, catch fire and its flesh began to burn with a nauseating smell. If there was pain, the creature showed no signs of it. It kept squeezing Laurella, and slowly, though powerfully swinging at Ryelass with its other free hand.

"Uggh . . .I . . .I . . " Laurella choked, reaching for Ryelass, but the monster's hold on her overpowered her and she blacked out, her body hanging limply in the air. The monster was still squeezing, it was killing her rapidly.

Seeing this drove Ryelass into a frenzy, he was hacking repeatedly at the arm that held her at every possibly angle, trying to gain and edge. He was leaving scratches and coupled with the fire he was doing damage to the monster, but it wasn't going to be enough to save Laurella before she died.

"Piricus, can't you use a counter curse or something?" I asked desperately.

He laughed coldly. "The curse on this thing is a combination of many. To be honest, I've never seen anything like it before. But I have to say, I'm impressed with the totality of this curse, it does just about everything curses should. It slows you down, weakens you, and amplifies the damage you take all at one time. I'm a little jealous," he said with envy, "but I would drain all my mana trying to fix the rogue's little problem and even then it might not be enough. Even if I removed the magic, you still have the immense physical brute force of the thing to contend with. Why don't you ask your precious paladin? They make a habit to counteract the forces of necromancy, or that is to say, they try."

Scorpious heard him and he twitched, but other than that he didn't retort.

"Don't you have anything that can help us with this!?" Vendra cried to him, but he was already busy reacting. He conjured a holy bolt and flung it at Griswold with a vengeance. The spiritual mass hit the undead abomination and exploded, knocking the creature ever so slightly sideways. Scorpious proceeded to launch one after another, and kept knocking Griswold back, but he still didn't relinquish Laurella.

Luckily, by this time the fire from Ryelass' sword had charred enough flesh that when he struck down next, Ryelass cleanly severed Griswold's wrist from his arm, dropping Laurella immediately to the ground. Dodging a crushing blow, Ryelass grabbed the back of her armor with his free hand and dragged the unconscious Laurella away from Griswold as quickly as he could, though the monster lumbered after them.

Scorpious threw another holy bolt, momentarily halting the creature long enough for him and Maria to make their way over to them. Maria took out a large blade shaped like a windmill and tossed it between them and Griswold and it began to fly wildly back and forth, as Ryelass swiftly handed Laurella to Scorpious. Scorpious immediately knelt down beside her and began to pray over her still form. She opened her eyes and gasped desperately for breath, coughing. Her breathing steadied some and although she was still panting, she threw her arms around Scorpious' neck and hugged him fiercely in gratitude. He smiled and gave her a one armed hug in return.

"Are you alright, my lady?" he asked genuinely.

She nodded and he helped her to her feet, just in time for Maria's trap to fail. The blade hit Griswold's knees and broke. "Damn it!" she swore loudly and readied her katars as the curse washed over them and he drew within striking distance.

Scorpious looked around himself and then at Griswold. "I know what will help us. I PRAY MERCIFUL GOD, LEND US YOUR MIGHT!" he shouted with conviction. No sooner had he spoken, than did we receive a shimmering, gold aura around us and beneath our feet as it pulsated in waves off of us and onto the ground.

"What does it do?" Laurella asked, eyeing Griswold wearily.

"I don't care! All I know is that I have to put a stop to this!" Ryelass exclaimed and lunged for the monster.

"Wait!" Maria said quickly and threw her arm out quickly across his chest. "BLAST HIM, WE'RE CLEAR!" she yelled to everyone else.

I frowned, I was out of ranged weapons and only had my full-length spear left, and it still had the original crack in it. I simply hadn't had time to repair it. I felt useless until Alminus tossed me a throwing axe.

"Here ya go. I know ya used yur last javelin savin' my life. It idn't what yur used to, but yur an amazon, ya probably 'r goin' to hit it better than me," he said with a smile.

Piricus snorted. "That wouldn't really be that hard for anyone. You're both pathetic. Do you rely think those are going to work? This," Piricus said snidely, conjuring a bone spear, "is a real weapon. Use that instead," Piricus said bluntly and tossed it at me nonchalantly.

I caught it in my other hand, though not without a blink. "Are you helping me?" I asked in shock.

He sighed. "I just want to take this Trag 'Oul be damned monster down so I can get the hell out of here before something bigger and more bad pops up and tries to kill me. In the dark, which is rapidly approaching might I remind you, it might actually succeed. So anything to make you more effective makes life easier for me," he said rather rudely.

"What ever happened to if I became a useless burden you were going to kill me?" I asked in surprise.

"For the time being, I've decided to let you live. But that's because I'm too damn tired to waste the effort and if I kill you now, the rest of our little party would shoot me down afterwards," he said flatly.

"Wise move, though I thought you said you were the strongest one here, I thought you told me all necromancers were like the Prince Darkblade Maria's hunting. If that's the case, killing all the rest of us should be easy for you," I retorted.

Piricus glared at me. "Even Prince Darkblade had his days, but I think if he really wanted to, he could put up one hell of a fight if he were here," he said darkly.

My Inner Sight twinged slightly as I looked into his icy eyes for a brief moment. Something was odd about what he had just said, but I couldn't place it. I shook it off.

"Well, I don' care what ya say, yur just plain stupid if ya think ya could take all of us down that easily," Alminus snapped.

Vendra and Sovellis shouted something, casting an ice spire and a lightening bolt, simultaneously with Cloudyous, whom placed his hands on the ground. Not long after, molten fire sprayed forth in waves after Griswold. Piricus used both hands and tossed two consecutive barbs at the monster, and Alminus tossed one of his axes. I decided to use both of the weapons I had been given. I tossed the axe first with my left hand and then sent the spear after it with my right.

I was utterly stunned by how useless our attacks were, even together. Alminus' weapons and mine broke upon hitting the creature, though the tip of the bone spear did remain lodged in its body. Cloudyous' spell only added to the fire Ryelass had already set and melted Vendra's ice spire and evaporated the water before Sovellis' lightening could channel through it. The lightening itself hit Griswold's massive body and simply bounced off.

"Damn it! Now can I go?" Ryelass snarled.

"Lady Laurella, stay back," Scorpious requested of the unarmed woman.

"We'll attack him together, Ryelass," Maria remarked calmly and removed her arm from his path.

He didn't listen, he charged strait at Griswold, he swung, and with Scorpious' might aura, his attacks were back to normal efficiency. But normal was not going to be enough to defeat this behemoth. Ryelass swung so fast and so hard that the motion of the air speeding by killed the flames on his sword. He kept bashing his once-friend, until his sword became lodged in Griswold's massive body. The monster grabbed his arm with its good hand and flung him sideways with the power of a tornado. Ryelass hit the wall of a burning building with such force it knocked him unconscious.

"Ryelass! Hang on buddy!" Alminus shouted in concern, and ignoring Griswold completely, he raced to his friend's side.

Luckily, now that Ryelass was no longer in his immediate path, Griswold seemed to have no interest in him. Instead, he was intently trying to bash Scorpious and Maria with both his good arm and the stump of his bad. More amazing still, the creature was still ablaze, and yet, he wasn't dying. I was beginning to wonder if this thing was immortal.

Maria kicked fiercely at the monster's chest, not even managing to move it back in the slightest. It was a powerful monster indeed that could withstand so much brutality and the power of Scorpious' Might Aura. While she was kicking, Scorpious was furiously hacking. His own sword was ablaze with the blessed white fire the sword spewed whenever it was striking a creature of the undead variety. He at least, appeared to be doing some damage. The monster swung at Maria with one arm, which she dodged, but then with the other hand aimed right for her head with deadly force. Scorpious saw this too, and as quickly as he was able, still being under the influence of Griswold's curse, he slammed his shoulder into Maria's body, pushing her out of the way. Scorpious quickly blocked with his shield, but to our dismay, Griswold hit it with such force that his punch went strait through the metal, and right into Scorpious' shield arm. The metal of the paladin's armor turned in on itself with the force, shredding deeply into his skin. That was not to mention the sickening crunching sound as the blow shattered the bones in his forearm.

Scorpious gasped in pain and stumbled backwards dropping the heavy targe off his badly injured arm immediately. The monster swung again as Scorpious desperately tried to parry its unstoppable attack with his sword. The punch hit the metal of the blessed blade, and surprisingly the sword didn't break, but it was knocked from Scorpious' grasp and went flying sideways, sending Scorpious sprawling onto his back into the dirt at Laurella's feet.

Laurella instantly stepped in front of him, making Scorpious frown as he struggled through the obvious immense pain to push himself up back onto his feet. "My lady, stay back! You're unarmed!" he said forcefully through gritted teeth.

"No! So are you and you're hurt bad! I won't let him harm you!" She insisted as the monster swung strait for them.

In a flash, Maria jumped in-between them and Griswold, yielded aside, crossed her katars into an 'X' and slammed them down onto the creature's wrist, trapping it there and pushing it down just enough so that the strike missed Laurella.

"Idiot!" Maria hissed at her, as she struggled with everything she had to hold the monstrosity's arm down. "Move! When Scorpious tells you to do something, you do it!"

"Maria . . ." Laurella began as Scorpious found his way back onto his feet.

"See! He would have been able to get out of the way by himse--" Maria growled but stopped as she was thrown high into the air as the monster retaliated. She landed roughly on her ankle, rolling it. She hissed, and gritted her teeth as she tried to regain her balance through the pain.

"We have to do something!" Vendra said frantically.

"What can we do? That creature is nearly unstoppable," I said quickly.

"All monsters have weakness," Sovellis pointed out.

"We'd better find it quick, because Maria's in real trouble," Cloudyous pointed out, as we watched the creature bear down on Maria in fury. She was doing the best she could to dodge with her injured ankle. She was having to make gross adjustments to her movements every time she jumped out of the way, for she knew if she landed wrong again, she was actually going to break her ankle and then she wouldn't be able to jump at all. She jumped awkwardly to the side, barely avoiding a punishing blow. That's when I noticed it. There was a small spot just below the jaw on the decaying side where the head was hinged on. My Inner Sight told me that was the spot in which the demented energy holding Griswold alive was flowing from. If someone could hit it, the creature would likely collapse for good.

I was about to tell the others, but apparently I didn't need to. A bright, silver sword plunged strait through the miniscule spot and then burst into holy white flame, which then spread over the entire of Griswold's body carried by the energy current, charring the monster to a blackened crisp. When at last the abomination fell dead, it revealed a snarling Ryelass whom had run him through from behind with Scorpious' holy sword.

I looked down upon the charred, disfigured corpse that had once been a man named Griswold. He resembled nothing so much as a large zombie now, which appeared to have suffered colossal injuries in life and now too in death. It deeply disturbed me as I gazed upon him, for underneath all the carnage and gore, underneath the demonic features, I could see a man with a round, smiling, and jovial face. My Inner Sight suddenly revealed to me an image of this man when he was whole. My first assumption hadn't been that far off, and he was holding a smithing hammer. He must have been a blacksmith in life. What was more, it told me that he was a good man, although I'm not quite sure how I knew.

But how could this have happened? Especially to a man such as this that should have been granted peace in death? How could evil use such a man for its bidding and trap his soul? I'd heard of such a power, a power that could bind good souls to darkness and turn them against heaven, but that power belonged only in legend, and to the prime evils at that. But I currently stood on the tainted ground where Diablo was supposedly imprisoned by the Horadrim so long ago. This evil ire that I was feeling all around me must have been an echo of something immense, maybe the Lord of Terror himself. Not that I had ever doubted his existence, none of my sisters did, but to say that at last we might be living in the time of prophecy might make some of them skeptical. When I returned to camp the first thing that I would do is write a detailed account of what I had experienced here and sent it immediately to Queen Chelsea. If these were truly the times of prophecy, then we would have to be ready, and judging by the state of Tristram, even after all our training, we were not.

Tristram would never be the same, ever again. There would always be scars and the land, as Cloudyous had said a short while ago, would never completely heal. Nature itself wept for this place, and for the darkness that would undoubtedly linger here forevermore. I couldn't imagine what Ryelass had to be going through right now, though he put on the act of being fine, I could clearly feel with my third sight that he was not. Seeing his home destroyed, and those he had once called friends and neighbors murdered, having to see them turned into monsters and having them fight against him . . . .I could feel his pain, even through the violently oppressive darkness that surrounded this place. This didn't bode well for him at all. I was wondering if one could ever truly recover from something like this. For him, there would always be scars, and probably for the rest of us too. I had a hard time believing that any one of us, even Piricus, would be able to put aside the memory of this place so quickly. I wished to Zerae that Ryelass had heeded Lady Akara's warnings. And yet, something still wasn't right here. I felt that there was more here that we were meant to see . . . .

"Are you alright?" Ryelass asked Maria whom stood perfectly still in front of where the demon had fallen at her feet.

"I'll live," she said simply as she limped over to Scorpious and Laurella, and the rest of us joined them too after Ryelass retrieved his own sword from Griswold's smoldering body.

"This is rightfully yours, and an incredible weapon," Ryelass said respectfully as he handed Scorpious back his sword.

"Look!" Vendra exclaimed pointing off ahead to the side. It was the shimmering red portal we had entered through. I could see a waving image of the Stony Field beyond.

"We walk circle," Sovellis remarked simply.

"Praise God," Scorpious groaned in pain. "Let us leave this forsaken place immediately. We have done what we came here to do, Lord Cain is safe."

"For once, I agree with you, paladin," Piricus said and then he walked over to Scorpious with a sadistic smile. "Isn't that just a miracle?" he said sarcastically and patted him none to gently on his injured arm.

Scorpious hissed in pain and I saw fire flash in his eyes. He looked pissed, he had a scowl on his face, a look I had never seen him with before. He reached for his sword with his good arm.

"Ooh. Touchy. I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Piricus taunted.

"Piricus! I swear to God that I am going to--" he stopped mid-sentence and growled loudly, but he closed his eyes and released his sword, calming himself. "I'm going to forgive you, that's what I should do . . . BUT JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT RIGHT NOW, BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!" Scorpious barked, stunning all of us.

I was amazed that was all Scorpious said and did. What an incredible act of restraint! If I were him, I would have attacked Piricus just now.

"Careful, paladin. Isn't anger one of your seven deadly sins? But that's just as well, because you're a sore sight anyway. And I want you completely well when I fight you. I'll have it no other way. The stronger you are, the harder you'll fall," Piricus retorted as he put one foot through the portal. "And by the way paladin, way to turn the other cheek," he snickered in amusement before he disappeared through the portal. Once he was gone, Scorpious snarled loudly.

"He's not worth it," Cloudyous said soothingly, as Belthem walked up to Scorpious and rubbed against his leg.

"You're amazing, Scorpious! I would have completely kicked his ass just now, especially for that last bit," Vendra said truthfully.

"But you didn't. And that right there makes you more powerful than Piricus could ever dream of being. You're the strongest among us by far," Maria told him with a voice full of respect.

"Trust me, the desire was there, but he's right, anger is a sin, and one I'll have to repent of later," Scorpious said calmly, returning to his peaceful self. "Thank you," he said to Belthem. "I'd scratch your ears, but quite clearly my hand just won't allow me," he said to the wolf, which tilted his head to the side and then whined.

"Leave him alone Belthem, come here," Cloudyous called out to him. The wolf licked his leg and then returned to Cloudyous' side.

"If the desire wasn' there ya wouldn't be human," Alminus said both truthfully and respectfully.

"Let's go, this place gives me the creeps," Vendra said with a shiver as one by one the party stepped through the portal with haste, nobody looking back. That is, except for me. For some inexplicable reason, I turned back to look at Griswold one more time. In the blink of an eye, I saw the body give a final shudder and something white and ethereal linger over the corpse ever so briefly, before vanishing like it had never been.

"Rest in peace," I said softly, and then realized with a start why it was a good thing that I turned around. I don't know how it could have happened with everybody here, but somehow, Ryelass was no longer among us. He must have slipped away unnoticed, and I saw his footprints heading off to the west. I turned around sharply towards the portal, calling for the others, but there was no one there. They must have all stepped through already. I growled in frustration and urgency. How stupid of me! I should have known something like this would happen! I contemplated racing after the others to tell them what had happened, but there simply wasn't time. I had to find him before any sort of harm could befall him. This was his home, albeit, so he must know his way around, but in his current mental state and with all the demon's running amok, the chance he might be in danger was high. And while he was a skilled fighter, I seriously doubted he could take on an army of skeletons or carvers by himself.

"Zerae damn it! Merciful goddess, help me find him swiftly!" I prayed and withdrew my spear from my back. Every second that passed by was a second wasted. It would simply take too long for everyone to regroup and take action. I was on my own. Honor was another part of my rationale in this decision. It had been Ryelass' decision to go it alone. If he had seen fit not even to involve Alminus in this matter, it must have been highly personal. He would undoubtedly face scrutiny for his actions from some of the others, Piricus especially, if they found out. It would have broken my code of honor to Ryelass' privacy if I revealed this to the others without his permission. I only hoped that I could find him quickly, and convince him to come back before all hell broke loose.

I took off on the trail immediately, every inch of my body tense and alert, as if trying to physically repel the encroaching darkness. I tracked Ryelass' movements around several corners, although the more and more of the city I saw, the more and more deserted it seemed. Oddly enough, the area was mercifully free of demons the further west I went, I could no longer see even demon footprints or marks. Though the feeling of darkness intensified the further west I went. I would have thought the monsters would be abundant here in their natural element. But it was unnatural the way that they, like most other forms of life, seemed to be avoiding this area like the plague.

I reached a small stream with a small, old, and horribly damaged wooden bridge. Next to it, Ryelass' tracks left the pathway and went slightly off to the side. I followed and a short distance away came upon another body. This corpse was lying face down in the grass, spread-eagle, with massive amounts of blood saturated into the ratty, torn clothing that remained. Flies and other insects circled the corpse in swarms and the smell made me want to vomit. Taking a step back away from the smell, I noticed that the body was somewhat smaller than those I had seen previously today. This boy was still fairly young, I'd say no older than sixteen turns. That, and he was missing a leg.

I saw Ryelass' footprints circle back to the bridge, and in the grass by the riverbank I had to step over a group of Carver corpses. They had been killed recently by a blade, the blood on them was still wet and warm. I was gaining on Ryelass. Just where in Sanctuary was he going anyway? We were on the very outskirts of town now. I realized the answer right before I saw it in front of me.

As I rounded the corner I laid eyes upon a large, ancient, and gothic cathedral, perhaps the largest I had ever seen. It looked as though it had once been beautiful, pure, lively, gleaming, and white. Now the opposite was true. The cathedral had been blackened, whether from age, battle, or evil I couldn't tell. The place was completely abandoned, and absolutely reeked of evil. The whole place seemed to be shadowed by both a physical and psychic midnight black mist. The feeling . . .it was so strong it stopped me dead in my tracks and I shivered.

"My Goddess . . ." I breathed. I knew what I was looking at instantly. It was the legendary Cathedral of Khanduras, the prison of Diablo himself. I had the immediate impulse to back away, the darkness was overwhelming. But to my surprise, and my horror Ryelass' trail was clearly imprinted in the ash on the ground, going up the massive stone steps, and disappearing behind the door beyond.

I cursed under my breath. What in Sanctuary could have possessed him to enter such a place? I gathered myself. Willing the sickly, evil sensation that tugged at me away. Centered, I continued along the path, passing a small cemetery next to the cathedral's doors. The graves were upturned, though the inhabitants were nowhere to be found. I saw no tracks or corpses, and the earth around them was dry and brittle. I knew that there was no immediate danger, the occupants of these graves were long gone.

I climbed the steps, grabbed the door handle, and with some effort, pulled it open. My first step into Khanduras triggered a series of brief visions from my inner sight. Firstly I saw flashes of faces, many faces. But the three at the end stuck out vibrantly.

First among them was a man, about his third decade, with dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard around his square jaw line. He also had a pair of bright green eyes that were familiar, though they were nowhere near as dark as Piricus'. Second was a woman, no older than the first man. She had bright, blood-red hair, just like Laurella, and a thin, pale face with a scar on her neck by her chin. And the third was a tall man, of about Sovellis' dark complexion. He had unruly, curly hair just like Sovellis' though his was bright blonde, and deep brown eyes. I saw them, and then I saw it and heard it too.

A monstrous roar, that shattered the earth and a great big red demon. It had scales like a dragon, spikes coming out from every angle, and massive hands and feet with glistening, deadly claws stained red with blood. The whole thing must have been thirty feet tall, it was enormous. It was Diablo, the Lord of Terror himself, I was sure of it. He reached out his massive hand, his claws coming strait at me. I yelped loudly, and shook from head to toe. He was coming at me, I couldn't get away. I had been left all alone to face the devil. There was no hope for me, there was no way I could defeat him. He laughed at me and fire flared in his hateful scarlet eyes. I had never been so afraid. Mighty Zerae, rescue me from this terror, from this mess! He was reaching for me, he was going to rip me apart in one hit. I choked on a scream of terror.

"NO! YOU"RE NOT REAL!" I shouted and shook my head vigorously. "YOU ARE NOT REAL YOU ARE NOT HERE!"

Something grabbed me and started shaking me. I screamed and began lashing out wildly with my spear.

"CHYEMME! CHYEMME! CHYEMME, CALM DOWN!" A familiar voice yelled, and I felt something metal clash against the edge of my spear. I gasped, panting for breath and someone pulled me up against them and wrapped their arms around me.

"GET HIM AWAY FROM ME!" I shrieked, fearfully and the monster grabbed at me. This wasn't happening. I felt a hand brush through my hair as my head leaned up against something metal.

"No one is here Chyemme! It's just us! Wake up!" the voice called to me and whatever had me squeezed gently, restraining my shaking form.

I opened my eyes, I had closed them without realizing it. When I did, I saw nothing. No demon, no fire . . . .There was only still, oppressive silence, though the feeling of incredible darkness still remained. I looked at what I was leaned up against. It was chain mail armor, I could see the links in it. I looked up, into Ryelass' face. He was holding me gently, a somber look on his face, he had my head up against his shoulder. He looked me in the eyes.

"Chyemme, are you alright? By god, what happened?" he asked in concern.

I stuttered. "I . . .I . .I saw him! Ryelass . . .I . . .I saw Diablo!" I choked, though I had stopped shaking.

Ryelass got a grim look on his face. "You saw Diablo? There's no one here but us."

"No, I saw him with my Inner Sight. He was here Ryelass, he was here! He's the one that ripped this town apart!"

"I know that. And if he were here right now, I'd likely try to kill him myself for what he's done to me, my home, and now for what he's done to you. I've never seen you look so afraid, it must have been terrible," he said quietly.

"I looked down and pushed him away from me gently. "I'm a coward," I said bluntly.

"No. No you're not. I've never seen you fight with anything but courage. Just coming after me by yourself shows that you have it. And I think if Diablo were actually here you'd fight him just the same as I would. You're not alone, you know. You never will be," he said gently.

I coughed and looked around at the place I now found myself in. I was in an enormous mass hall, the room was made completely of old stone. The ceiling arched high above, and a dead, sickly looking ivy hung from the ceiling. And yet, I could sense life within it still. It was disgusting the way evil tainted everything. All around the floor were broken remnants of what I guessed was once beautiful wooden furniture, thick black dust, and bodies. Lots of bodies, mostly skeletons. Some where human, and some were clearly demon. All looked long dead, dust and decay had already settled in. Most, I judged, had been killed by a sword, their bones had deep gash marks and wedges in them. Still others looked like they had been bludgeoned or blasted to death, and the remainder of them had arrow shafts sticking out of their bodies. A broken arrow lie on the ground at my feet. I picked it up and examined it, brushing off the dust. It had an intricate silver head, with a point that curved ever so slightly. It reminded me almost of a bird's talon. I suddenly had a recollection of a black crossbow bolt implanting itself into Scorpious' back. When we had removed it . . . It couldn't be.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked uncertainly, showing the arrow to Ryelass.

He took it and examined it for himself. "It certainly looks like it. Kaysha herself said that Blood Raven was once a Captain against Diablo here in Tristram," he recalled. "Though obviously, this place didn't do her any favors," Ryelass said darkly. "I'm guessing that those of you with Inner Sight not only see things, but you feel them too, so you're more susceptible to the mind powers of the demonic."

"Only if you're like me," I said, disgusted with myself, "and can't defend your mind properly.

"Diablo is a prime evil, Chyemme. I wouldn't be surprised if Lady Akara had the same reaction," Ryelass coaxed.

"I guess it doesn't really matter, What's done is done, but can I ask you a favor?" I asked.

"Sure, you convinced Piricus to help save my life in the cemetery, at least that's what I'm told. I'm in your debt for that," he said in reassurance.

"Ryelass, please don't tell Piricus what just happened," I asked sincerely.

"You think I would?" Ryelass asked, snorting indignantly. "I wouldn't tell him anything that would help him to torment other people. Why do you care what he thinks of you anyway?" he asked me.

"I honestly don't know," I said truthfully. "Just, please don't tell him."

"I won't. You have my word," Ryelass vowed.

"Have you found anything yet?" I asked, looking around, "although I have to wonder what in the hell you were thinking coming in here in the first place, and all alone at that!" I reprimanded.

"It's a personal matter," Ryelass said bluntly, "and none of the others were up to sticking around. I'm surprised you did. And speaking of being alone, why didn't you bring them with you?" he asked.

"There wasn't time," I said honestly, "I wanted to get to you before the demons did, although there don't seem to be any of them around, and now I know why."

"I can take care of myself, though it touches me that you cared enough about me to come after me. I can't say that for many of the people I know, even the ones I've known for years," he admitted.

"What about Alminus? Why the hell didn't you bring him with you? You two seem like good enough of friends that he would jump into hell with you," I inquired.

"Yeah, and that's why he would have tried to stop me from coming here," Ryelass replied. "Don't get me wrong, he's practically my blood brother."

"I think he's going to be hurt that you didn't take him with you," I said knowingly.

"He'll have to forgive me, this was something I wanted to do on my own and he understands that better than anybody," Ryelass responded.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," I said bluntly.

"You're fine. I'm just glad nothing happened to _you_ on the way here. I killed a bunch of Carvers, but there still might be more lurking around. You could probably take care of them though if there were. I doubt very few people can boast about crossing an amazon and living," he added.

"You're making me sound like Piricus," I replied.

"Sorry," he said sincerely. "But no, I haven't found anything yet. I got here just moments before you did."

"What's that book there?" I asked as I scanned the room and found a musty old book lying one of the broken pews. "It looks fairly new, look at the tracks," I said, pointing along the floor where something had walked recently.

"Let's see," Ryelass said briskly and walked over, picked it up, and opened it. He squinted, then his eyes widened in shock.

"I recognize this writing! It's Elder Cain's! It looks like a journal of sorts, there are dates. Wait! This one was dated recently. It was dated about four days ago!" he exclaimed.

"What does it say?" I asked curiously.

"Hang on, let me read it. It says:

_He stayed amongst us for a time, though he had family, this was once his home so it was only natural that he should be welcome back here. Though he was cordial to those that approached him, he usually kept to himself and seldom came out from the house we had given him. Ogden suggested that we throw a celebration in the hope that strong drink and good company would snap him out of his dark mood. We were mistaken. At some point during the celebration he slipped away and left us none the wiser. Later in the evening I paid a visit to his home, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw there._

_Our hero sat alone in his own entry way, muttering to himself in different languages, many of which had not been used in centuries. He had donned a dark traveling cloak, and it's deep hood hung low over his face. When he turned toward me, the firelight glinted off of his tortured features, revealed the distorted visage of a man who was no longer himself. His eyes shone with a crimson haze and an eerie red light pulsed from the depths of his hood. The wound on his forehead had opened . . . And I thought I saw . . .No, it was probably just a trick of the light playing with an old man's overactive imagination._

_I asked him if he was well, yet he just continued to ramble on. I was thoroughly unnerved by the whole scene and had made up my mind to leave him in order to bring help, when suddenly he seemed to snap to attention and spoke with an icy voice that filled my heart with paralyzing dread. 'The time had come to leave this place. My brothers await me in the east. Their chains will bind no longer'. I didn't have any idea of what he could be talking about, he only had one sibling as I could recall, and perhaps he could have gotten himself into a bit of trouble, I couldn't say for sure. Yet, seeing as he had come back to his senses, I decided to take my leave and let him rest. In fact, at that moment, I was quite terrified by him and wished to escape his burning gaze. It was the last time I ever saw him._

_Our hero left Tristram early the next morning, in secrecy he set off towards the eastern pass with only a pack of provisions and his sturdy sword. I can only guess what he went searching for. Shortly after his departure, our worst nightmares came true. The demonic servants of hell returned to Tristram._

_As of this writing I am the only survivor left. I have evaded the foul beasts for many nights, but I know that my time is running short. Why they've returned and why they butchered so many innocents, I'll never know. All that I am sure of is that their arrival is somehow tied with our hero's departure. . . .I have written all of this down in the hopes that someone will find these passages and attempt to right what has transpired here. I expect that my life will end soon, but perhaps these writings will help to prevent this tragedy from befalling other villages; other lands. I will remain here until either help arrives or the creatures finally come for me. Heaven help me. Even after all that's happened, I cannot bring myself to abandon this dismal place._

_Seek out the wanderer, for as of this writing, I know from what I have seen from him that evil consumes him. I know now that what I have seen that night was no mirage, our hero is now the embodiment of Diablo the Lord of Terror himself. How could this have happened? How could the foul demon have done this? But I suppose it doesn't matter now. I implore you reader, find and destroy the Lord of Terror. When he was once our champion, his name was Marcus Valarius._

Ryelass immediately dropped the book he was holding, and it landed roughly on the ground with a loud thud. He started shaking his head. "NO! NO! NO!" he yelled vehemently. "NO!"

"Ryelass, what is it, what's wrong! Do you know this person!?" I cried out in alarm.

He stilled and looked me right in the eyes. "Chyemme," he choked out at last, "Marcus Valarius is my brother."


	15. Chapter 15

-1The Horadrim Sage

Piricus

"You've got to be jesting me, paladin. That old man is the last of the Horadrim? That old geezer looks barely able to walk much less fight his way out of a pile of dry leaves. We went all that way into that damned and Trag Oul forsaken land for this? What good can an old man possibly be?" I sighed irritably. To me, this past quest to rescue Deckard Cain had been no more than a charity act.

"I don't care if he had been a peasant girl, Piricus. I would have still gone to save him. No one deserves to suffer what we have just seen. As it is, we were there only a sort time and look at us; the monumental evil that held sway over that land has unnerved us. Dare I say, even you as well. You're acting even more disagreeable than usual. Anyway, in case you have forgotten, Lady Akara said that Lord Cain is a Horadrim _sage_, not a _warrior_. I can only image the information his must know, the legends, the lore . . . And not to mention the fact that he lived in Tristram. He was there when the town was attacked. He can probably tell us what happened and shed some light on our situation in general. He will probably be of great use to us, should he be willing," the paladin said in a tired, but lecturing tone.

Not to mention he was still in an obvious amount of pain from his broken arm. Apparently he had been praying over it internally and it seemed to make the hurt turn into discomfort, but he hadn't been able to cure such a serious injury on himself by himself. My guess was that he would go immediately and see the old rogue leader. Him, and that bitch of an assassin. I had hoped that at least one of them, if not both would have met their end today and made life better for me. I take that back, I wanted the paladin alive. I wanted to kill him myself.

But speaking of his current tone, I hated lectures, and I hated him even more. On the brighter side of things, speaking of warriors, all the irritating fight seemed to have gone out of ours. Which was good because I was in no mood to put up with his fiery idiom at the moment. However, as strange as it would sound, coming from me, I had to admit, I liked his depressed melancholy even less. Perhaps just the fact that we had rescued this person would be enough to lift his spirits enough to keep him sane. Although, after everything we had been through today, somehow I doubted he would ever really be the same again. That place . . .I had never felt anything like it, and I hoped never to do so again.

Shaking off all the dementia I had just borne witness to, I turned my attention back to the present. The amazon had been oddly silent since we left the town, not that I could really say I blame her. However, odder still, was the fact that she didn't try to back up the paladin or chastise me for our last conversation. I looked back to find the very particular reason for her silence. She was not there. Neither was the warrior.

"Speaking of warriors, paladin, we seem to be missing two of ours."

The paladin turned around abruptly in surprise.

"What? What are you talking about Pir--"

"Chyemme and Ryelass are missing," the assassin interjected immediately from beside him.

"Maybe they just took a different route somewhere back in camp," Vendra suggested lightly.

" No, I don't think so. There aren't any footprints behind ours, and we can see right to the waypoint. Something's wrong," the druid answered, looking around himself for any signs we could have missed.

"Is it possible that they 'r still in Tristram?! We got to go back!" the Barbarian said quickly, announcing the most probable course of events that had transpired.

"Idiot woman," I muttered under my breath. Better yet, "Idiot warrior," I corrected myself. He, more so than she, had been prone to doing such a stupid thing, although I wouldn't have put it entirely past the amazon either.

"There's no need. We're . . . fine."

I turned to see the amazon walking around a nearby corner with the warrior in tow. Both looked like they had literally seen hell. This confirmed my suspicion that they had probably gotten separated from us somehow, and probably had gotten to see another part of town that we had conveniently skipped. She was unusually pale and especially grave. She appeared shaken not only physically, but mentally as well, although she was trying hard not to let any of it show. Every few seconds a muscle in her body would twitch slightly, and she kept subtly shaking her head.

This made me wonder if there was something her inner sight had shown her. Lord Rathma had often said those of the sight not only had the power to perceive the present and future, but also the past if enough energy was present. And there was an abundance of energy in Tristram, not of a decent kind. The death energy was more abundant than I had seen it in a long time, the townsfolk couldn't have died all that long ago. But this did not bother me. What bothered me was the unexplained, omnipresent taint in that energy. Death is supposed to be natural, as neutral as the druid's natural magics. But there the energy was grotesque, and contorted in a unnatural way. I didn't dare use it while I was there, and apparently neither did the other casters in our group. Which would explain why we were all having trouble using spells, especially against that monster called Griswold. We were having trouble finding suitable energies that wouldn't warp our spells into something ugly. But I didn't want to dwell on this anymore. We had done just fine with our melee skills. Right now, I was more interested in hearing about what had happened to the warrior.

If the amazon looked shaken he looked broken. He was even more pale than she was, and he had a distant look in his eyes. I vaguely wondered if his soul had left his body. He seemed to be mentally struggling with something as well. It didn't take a psychic to tell that it was probably what he had seen. To be completely honest, I was surprised that he hadn't cracked yet, given everything that had happened today. I was mildly impressed, for most men I know, under those circumstances would have gone insane instantly having all of that hit them at once. But then again, maybe the worst was yet to come. Maybe this hadn't had a chance to really sink into the warrior's reality. The human mind is such a fragile thing, or at the very least, a ductile thing.

"My lady, you look . . .shaken. What happened?" the paladin asked gently.

The amazon shook her head again.

"We got separated. Nothing more," she said rather abruptly.

This surprised me more than anything else so far. She had just told a bold-faced lie to the paladin of all people!

"Better we ask you, than him," I said gesturing to the warrior, "he looks like he could be one of my zombies."

I expected her eyes to flash with their normal fire, but she merely looked at me dully.

"You could never understand, Piricus," she said simply, and then placed a hand on the warrior's shoulder comfortingly.

"Now you know," she said softly. "Now you can avenge him."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but apparently, the barbarian did. He suddenly got a very surprised look on his face.

"No . . . don't tell me ya found 'im? Oh great northin stars, buddy what happened?" he said suddenly in worry.

The warrior turned slowly and looked at him with that same hollow stare , before he finally sighed.

"How can I begin to tell you, Alminus? I'm not sure I believe it yet," he said slowly, struggling to find the words.

I was surprised that he could still speak in whole sentences. "Well, he's either dead or he's not. Whoever _he_ is," I said bluntly, provoking hostile stares from everyone in the area, even the amazon.

"I'm afraid that it isn't that simple, my friends," came a voice from behind us.

I turned around once more, to see the old man, Deckard Cain, limping towards us supported by a heavy yew staff. Being as my eyes were well attuned to seeing in the dark, I probably got a better look at him than the others did. He was relatively short, like the warrior and about an inch taller than he was. He had a strongly accented tan and a ring of grey hair around his otherwise bald head. He had a long mustache/beard that framed his mouth of the same grey hue, and wore plain grey robes that were torn in several places. He was covered in stains and splatters, but looked relatively unharmed, save for the small scratches on his neck and cheeks and the limp he walked with. As he drew closer into our torch-light I could make out the several wrinkles in his skin that cast shadows over his aged face.

His deep brown eyes looked us over with a mixture of emotions, before settling on the warrior. His old face reflected deep sorrow as he limped over to him.

"Ah, Ryelass. It really is you. Seeing you alive brings my old heart joy, although I wish to God we had been able to reunite under better circumstances. I can't tell you the pain in this old man's heart that you of all people had to see what has befallen your once beautiful homeland. I can see that you suffer, and I fear that it has been largely for my sake that you saw these things. I will do all that I can to repay you and your friends for saving my life," he said gently.

The warrior half sighed, half sobbed his response.

"I suffer over a great many things, the desecration of my homeland is only one of them. Good Cain, what has happened to him! Truly it cannot be as you have written? Tell me now, for I must know! My quest has been for knowledge, and as horrible as it has been I have found it. I was returning to the region to find my home and my brother, Marcus, and now. . . .no, it's not true!" He breathed out, barely in a clear-cut sentence, although this time his words had force behind them.

Whatever little joy Deckard Cain must have had, any relief, instantly died away when the warrior said those words. The old man sighed and nodded gravely. He seemed resigned.

"As I have written? Are you speaking of my manuscripts? How is it that you have come across them? They were taken from me by the many demons of the town along with just about everything else," the old man asked grimly. "Last I saw of them, the Carvers had them and were carrying them towards the--"

"--Temple of Khanduras. We have been there. That is where we found them," the amazon supplied politely.

Cain turned to her.

"The temple? I pity you good lady for what you undoubtedly found there. The only things that were ever there were death and blood. But what may I ask, drove you to enter there? Surely you know that it was the resting place of Diablo, the Lord of Terror. His evil must still resound all through those halls not to mention the monstrosities that still reside there," the old man said with concern.

The warrior bowed his head. "It was my fault. I had to know, and that is the one place where I thought I could find answers. It is my knowledge that Marcus once fought there. I left the group on my own to seek that unholy place and any sign of him it may have had. I had heard that it was just being reconstructed, so any signs that might have been there were likely to still be there. Chyemme followed me there, out of concern for my well-being. She and I found the manuscript together. And those are your words written therein, are they not? If they are . . ." he said painfully.

The old sage nodded his head. "I'm afraid so. Those are my words. They are a record of those events in the last days of Tristram. You have read my manuscript, therefore, you must already know what I am about to tell you. I assume you merely wish to confirm this with me. I will repeat the story, for I feel it will be necessary for those of you who were not there to know what it said. It pertains to far more than just this land and these people. However, I would like for Lady Akara to be present as well as anyone else she deems that needs to hear this. Would one of you please go to her?" The old man asked sincerely.

The assassin nodded and disappeared, resurfacing minutes later with Akara and her bitchy rogue captain. Cain nodded to her, and she to him, before we all made our way slowly to the campfire pit. Once everyone was situated, Cain turned to the warrior once more.

" Are you absolutely sure you want to hear what I am about to tell you? Well--I suppose so, seeing as you were even willing to venture into Khanduras to find the truth."

The warrior nodded gravely, seeming to regain some of himself momentarily. "I must know."

"Very well. Firstly, I would like to say thank you to those of you that saved my life today, and to you Lady Akara, for tending so graciously to my wounds. As a token of my gratitude, I will identify items for you free of charge. Now then, regrettably, there was nothing I could do to prevent the attack that devastated Tristram . . ."

When he had finished, we all sat in stunned silence. Even I could not think of anything to say. So, Diablo the Lord of Terror walked the world again. And what was more, he was in human form, unrecognizable to any that would lay eyes upon him. And to top it all off, the damned soul that housed the spirit of Diablo was the warrior's brother. Talk about a family issue . . .the fool's own flesh and blood was now one of the worst things in existence. However I was far from feeling pity for the warrior. His brother must have known the risks, along with all else who ventured against one of the prime evils. And sacrifice or not, the fool had allowed himself to be overpowered and manipulated by the very evil he had sought to destroy. What could have possibly motivated the fool to stay in a fight he couldn't win, much less take the damn thing into his own body unrestrained? He couldn't have possibly thought he could control the demon's soul. What was he trying to accomplish?

In the meantime, thanks to the stupidity of the warrior's bloodline, there was now one more major demon running amok in the world. Looking around, I knew this is what the others were thinking as well, with the addition of one thing. The apocalypse. I think all of us present, regardless of what class we were of, had heard the prophecy of the end times. The return of Diablo, the return of Baal, the freeing of Mephisto, and the uniting of the three, blah, blah, blah etc. This was supposedly, the first sign. While looking around, everyone else seemed panicked. I thought it was funny. There was no way this could happen in our life time, at least not yet. For one thing Baal was still nowhere to be found. And for another, I didn't believe in fate. The world could challenge its so called "end". The people could fight back if such a thing was to happen. Nothing is ever certain. Who's to say that someone else wouldn't kill this wanderer? That someone else wouldn't stand up to Mephisto? After all, didn't this prophecy also foretell of the struggle of mortal men against the three? If my memory served me correctly, there would be a number of heroes that would rise to the challenge, apparently just like there had been last time and the time before in the age of the Horadrim. This was nothing new. People had been fighting the so called "apocalypse" since the beginning of our species. In my opinion, this time wouldn't be any different.

The barbarian was the first to break the silence.

"Don't worry Ryelass. If ther' is anythin' left o' yur brother in there, we'll save him," he said powerfully.

I scoffed.

"And just how, pray tell, do you intend to do that? The thing that's got him, or I should say, that is using what's left of him, is the Lord of Terror himself. What are you going to do, fight Diablo?"

Just then, the warrior got a very serious expression on his face, and an almost burning glare in his eyes. It was as if something snapped, but not necessarily in a bad way. He glared directly at me.

"If that's what it takes."

I'll admit, I was taken aback by this.

"And even if what you say is true, and there is nothing left of him, I will kill the demon and put my brother's soul and body to rest. I will avenge him! I will not rest until he and everything he fought for may rest in the peace promised and so long denied to them! With God as my witness here and now, I vow I will not rest until that demon has been vanquished and all remnants of him, destroyed!" he announced loudly to all around, with his clenched fist trembling at his side.

"It's your funeral," I laughed.

He gave me a defiant stare and before taking his leave of us, he said to me,

"I swear it on this sword, and on the blood of whosoever tries to stop me, from this day forward, including you, Piricus."

When his back was no longer visible in the darkness I blinked and laughed again.

"Okay. He's cracked. Took him long enough."

"He was bein serious ya nimrod! And I'm happy for im! At leas he's found a small measure of peace in that vow! And mind ya, I'll stand right by im to the end! Even against Diablo, cause thas what real friends do!" he growled at me.

I looked back at him, not moved in the least by this show of loyalty. "Then it will be a double funeral, if they can find your corpses after the demons get finished hacking, chewing, and defiling them. Do you honestly think you can defeat Diablo?"

He looked at me for a moment, with tattoos gleaming the firelight. "Do you think you can?"

I coughed in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Aren ya the one who keeps telling' us somethin' o' bout how yur gonna kick Mephisto's ass? He's a prime evil too, and from wha' I've seen you aren't any tougher than we are. You got no grounds to ridicule me and Ryelass 'bout anything! Tell me yur strong enough to face Mephisto and I'll call you a liar!" he said, throwing my own comment effectively right back in my face, which was something I would have never though possible from him.

"Well said Alminus!" the sorceress agreed, making me all that much more irritated.

"I think that will be enough for now. I doubt even Piricus has anything to say to that, however I think we've rudely interrupted Lord Cain," the paladin interjected, like the ninny he was.

"My apologies," the barbarian said to the old man, and roughly took his seat again.

The old man cleared his throat and nodded. "No trouble. I am glad that young Ryelass has taken this so well. He has indeed grown up and become very strong. His brother would be proud of him. But I'm afraid I still have something yet to say that will not be to anyone's liking."

"Geez, well aren't you just full of cheerful tidings old man? What now?" I groaned.

" Show some respect! If not to your elders then to the last of the Horadrim!" the paladin hissed at me. "Please ignore him Lord Cain," he continued respectfully.

The old man looked me over and nodded. "A necromancer I see. And you my Lord, must be a paladin. What an odd pair to behold working together."

"It's a dysfunctional relationship, I assure you," the sorceress imputed, making the everyone laugh save me and the paladin.

"And you are dysfunctional, period," I assured her, making her scowl at me. For as often as she did such, she might as well keep that look plastered to her face.

"A quick wit and a sharp tongue only serve to cut ties, not make them," the old man said to me sagely.

"Um, old man, they told me you were a sage. That implies you are intelligent. And any intelligent person can see I don't exactly like other people. So I fail to see how you didn't make this association," I snapped.

"Be quiet Piricus! Let him speak for god's sake or so help me I will come over there are hold your mouth physically shut. I have seen quite enough today and I don't care to see any sass from you!" the amazon said, glaring daggers at me.

"Do your worst sweetheart," I said in a falsely sweet tone.

"Don't waste your energy, Chyemme. You'd have to cut his head off to keep him from talking and even then you'd still have about thirty seconds worth of chatter," the assassin said to her pointedly.

"That will be enough, Piricus," the old woman rogue said to me harshly. "If you wish to remain inside the walls of my encampment you will hold your tongue."

"Top that for a threat," the sorceress shot back at me.

"Do not lower yourself to the level of your adversary, rise above them," the old man said to her gently, like a father reprimanding a daughter.

"I know, but he just has a certain way with people that makes everyone around him want to strangle him or find creative ways in which to make him die," she furthered.

I opened my mouth, but another look from the amazon made me think better of it. There was something about her demeanor tonight. She had changed somehow and it made me slightly uncomfortable.

"As you wish," I said curtly to the elderly woman.

"Oh my God, did anyone else hear him say that? Scorpious, have I gone insane?" the sorceress asked the paladin skeptically.

"No, my lady. Your ears are as good as mine," the paladin answered with a smile.

"Finally. Maybe we should have held that over your head from the start," the druid said with a laugh.

"We should listen to Lord Cain. He know something else that he not yet say," the sorcerer chimed in, bringing everyone's focus back to a central point other than me.

"Yeah, forgive us Lord Cain, but there is just somethin' 'bout him that has the ability to throw us off o' task," the barbarian explained.

"Then you have given him exactly what he wants," the old man said looking directly into my eyes, "you have given him power over you."

"What!? No way in hell!" the sorceress barked, I act of my own volition. Always have, always will."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked her with a sly smile. So, maybe the old man did have some smarts in him if he alone could point that factor out having been around me for all of half an hour.

"Positive," she hissed, arousing a strange look from the amazon, whom appeared deep in thought. She was beginning to act as distant as the rogue had the time we found her. Speaking of the little girl, she looked as if her mind were somewhere else. She considered to herself a moment, a look of sympathy crossing her face, and then she stood up briskly and bowed to the old man and then the old rogue.

"My Lord, My Lady, please excuse me, there is a personal matter I must see to."

"Where are you going?" the rogue commander demanded.

"To see to Lord Ryelass, there is something I wish to speak with him about," she said truthfully.

"Leave him be, that's a direct order!" the commander snapped.

"But Commander Kaysha, I . . ." she started.

"I know what it is you're going to ask him, and I don't believe he's prepared to talk about that yet," she furthered, "So I'm ordering you to let the matter drop," she commanded harshly.

"There will be another, far better time for that conversation to occur, my dear," the old rogue said to the redhead. "For now let Lord Ryelass seek his peace in his solitude."

She grudgingly sat back down. What was it that the girl could have possibly thought was so important?

"Lord Cain, continue please," the old rogue requested.

The old man nodded. "It is certain that we face the demon queen, Andariel, who has corrupted the rogue sisterhood and defiled their ancestral monastery. This does not bode well for us my friends. Ancient Horadric texts record that Andariel and the other lesser evils once overthrew the three prime evils--Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal--banishing them from hell to our world. Here they caused mankind untold anguish and suffering before they were finally bound within the Soulstones. Andariel's presence her could mean that the forces of hell are once again aligned behind Diablo and his brothers. If this is true, then I fear for us all. You must kill her before the monastery becomes a permanent of outpost of hell and the way east lost forever."

The paladin looked at him, deadly serious. "My Lord, I assure you, that was our intention anyway. We will do our best to clear the rogue pass as soon as we reach it. I--" his face wrinkled in pain as the moron moved his broken arm in the ever so slightest way. I actually had a grin on my face, the fool might finally learn that rushing headlong into a fray and taking a blow for someone else was a bad idea after all. In my mind, better them, than me. The old rogue leader, looked to him in sympathy and then hastily made her way to him.

"My deepest apologies, noble Lord Scorpious. I'm afraid I was too absorbed by the important tidings Lord Cain has brought us to notice your arm right away. Allow me to fix it immediately," she apologized and hastily made her way to him.

"Not to worry, my Lady, so was I," the paladin assured politely. Idiot, it was obvious he was in pain. If I were him, I would have made getting healed my first priority. But then again, it was obvious that paladins were far from intelligent. They seemed to have no sense of self-preservation, and would willingly throw themselves in front of someone else for almost no reason at all. I don't think I would ever understand such a pathetic, stupid, gesture.

The old rogue gingerly moved her hand over the surface of his skin and frowned. "You have quite a bit of metal lodged in your arm my Lord," she relayed, "and it must come out before I can heal you," she admitted.

The paladin nodded and braced himself, holding his arm out as best he was able through the obvious pain. "Please, my Lady, remove them at once then," he responded with a grimace.

The old woman reached to the edge of the injury and reached for the piece of shrapnel that was at the forefront of the skin. She pulled firmly, and the metal piece came out, stained crimson with the paladin's blood. He gritted his teeth, but gave no other protest. I watched as she pulled a least a dozen or more spikes out of his skin, it must have been agonizing. Good. I would hate for this act of selfless stupidity to go unpunished. Though, as much as I didn't want to admit it, the paladin had an extraordinary tolerance for pain. Maybe that was a good thing, I didn't want him to drop with the first blow in our fight. Well, maybe then again, one blow should be all it takes, poison was my forte, and my dagger was always coated with enough of it to easily take out a grizzly bear. One strike was often my mark, it was all I needed.

When the old rogue was done removing metal, she looked at him apologetically. "Brace yourself. I'm afraid this is the part that will hurt the worst," she said truthfully as she then swiftly pushed and twisted, snapping the paladin's arm back into place. He exhaled sharply and blinked several times. But mercifully for him, the old rogue immediately ran her hands over the wound, and with a subtle pink glow, his arm healed instantly. He flexed it, testing it out.

He smiled, and bowed to her. "Thank you my Lady, it feels better than ever." He said and then looked at his ruined gauntlet, and through to his skin through the big hole there. "This," he said, taking it off his arm, "Is useless, and I am also in need of a new shield. Is Lady Charsi still up at this late hour?" he asked respectfully.

"You're quite welcome, my Lord, I'm just glad I was able to fix it. Sadly, I am not gifted with the ability to heal metal, but yes, I find that I often here the pounding of Charsi' hammer late into the night."

"That reminds me, Lady Akara, didn't you want me to go see her when I returned?" the rogue asked.

"I did indeed. I believe she has an important request for all of you, so perhaps if you are not too tired, you should all go to see her. That is, everyone except you, Maria. I would like to have a look at your ankle first," she said, eyeing the assassin's seriously swollen ankle.

The assassin nodded and made her way over to the old rogue. "I would be grateful if you did. Go on, I'll catch up to you in a minute," she assured us.

"That's just as well," the amazon said quietly. "I need to get this spear fixed and more javelins," she announced more to herself than anyone.

"I need this fixed as well," the rogue said almost regretfully and held up her completely broken crossbow.

"Is Charsi even going to be able to fix that?" the sorceress asked skeptically.

"I won't know until she can look at it," she admitted.

"Well then, let's go," the druid said a little tiredly, not that I could really blame him. The druid's wolf panted and followed behind him, though the raven flew into the air and landed on the old man's shoulder.

The old man sighed, and reached up to stroke its feathers. "Ah, it has been many years since I have seen you," he said affectionately. That stopped the druid strait in his tracks, and stunned everyone else too.

"Lord Cain, do you know Bibo?" he asked with surprise.

The old sage nodded. "She is quite an extraordinary animal. It will be a tale I tell you another time though, tonight I feel that words have just brought more and more heavy burdens on our shoulders. But be not troubled, Lord Cloudyous, is that what you said your name was?" the old man asked politely.

"Yes sir," the druid responded respectfully.

"It is a pleasant tale." The old sage rubbed the feathers on the raven's head." You," he said to it, "shoulder return to your friend."

Miraculously, the bird must have understood him, because it flew back and landed on the druid's shoulder, nipping his hair affectionately. There was no doubt in my mind now, there must not be much to communicating with animals if so many people in this little group could do it besides the druid.

Thankfully, without much idle chatter, we made our way to see the blacksmith. As predicted, she was busy at work over her forge.

The barbarian got a smile on his goofy face and stepped up to her, energy seeming to suddenly abound in his steps. "Hey there, pretty lady," he said flirtatiously. I wanted to gag. I sure as hell was not going to stand here and watch the barbarian try to woo this woman, we'd be here all night. I was about to say something, when she instantly perked up and turned around at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, hey Alminus! It's good to see you!" she said walking over and embracing him, soot and all. The barbarian didn't seem to mind the slightest as he hugged her back mightily. When they were done, she pulled him back slightly and looked him over. "You look fine, and that's good news! I heard you all rescued Lord Cain and that he is here in the encampment, though I haven't been to see him yet for myself," she admitted. "I'm really glad you're alright, I was worried about you," she said sincerely.

"Worried 'bout me? Nah, don't do that. I'll be fine," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess that's true, you being from the wolf tribe and all, but a girl can't really help it sometimes," she said and kissed his cheek.

I cleared my throat loudly. "Flirt on your own time, barbarian, or I will give your girlfriend something to worry about when it comes to your safety."

He turned around and glared at me, and the blacksmith jumped and blushed sheepishly. "Oh, hello everyone! I'm sorry I didn't see you, I was a little distracted," she said embarrassedly.

"Obviously," I growled.

"Shut up, Piricus, or she not help you when you need it," the sorcerer growled at me.

"Truly, I'm sorry, what can I do for you?" she said honestly.

"We have a whole slew of repairs for you, I'm afraid my lady," the paladin said truthfully.

"Well, I've got all night, I'll be up anyway. Gosh, what happened to your arm Scorpious?" she asked eyeing his armorless arm.

"Nothing Lady Akara couldn't fix. I wish I could say the same for my armor. My lady, I need a new gauntlet, and a new shield," he requested politely.

"I see. Well, I've got a couple of shields over there," she said pointing to a rack off to the left, "but as for your gauntlet, I'm afraid I'll have to make you a custom one in order for it to fit you," she apologized.

"That's quite alright, I trust whole-heartedly in your craftsmanship," he said with confidence.

"I need this fixed too," the amazon said and handed her spear over to the blacksmith, whom looked it over.

"Well, this is just a crack, this will take no time to fix," the woman assured.

"And I also need--" the amazon began.

The blacksmith smiled, as she reached around behind her anvil and pulled out a tied bundle of javelins. They weren't silver like the last ones the amazon had, but the tips were solid steel. "I thought you might, and I had some extra time. I know they aren't silver, but I'm kind of out of that metal just now, I had to make due with what I had," she said earnestly.

"And it is appreciated. These will work well enough. Thanks for your consideration," the amazon said humbly and walked over to her and handed her a pouch full of gold coins.

"I'll get to work right away on your spear," the blacksmith assured, "right after I take Scorpious' measurements."

"Charsi," the rogue began uncertainly, "can you fix this?" she asked holding out her crossbow.

The blacksmith looked it over and clicked her tongue. "This is in pretty bad shape. How did this happen?" she asked curiously.

"The same thing that happened to Scorpious' arm," the assassin replied as she came around the corner.

"I see. Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if I can or not, but I'm willing to try. But this will take a couple of days to fix at the least. If you're planning on going out again before then, you'll need to go see Kashya and get an extra bow," the blacksmith replied.

"I will. But before that, Lady Akara said you had something you wanted to ask us," the rogue replied.

The barbarian got a concerned look on his face. "Wha' is it Charsi, wha's wrong?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just a request really. When I fled the monastery, I left behind the Horadric Malus, my enchanted smithing hammer. If you can retrieve it for me, I'll use its magic to strengthen your equipment," she requested.

"The Horadric Malus? Perhaps Lord Cain would know something about that, seeing as he is the last of the Horadrim," the druid pointed out.

"Let's ask him tomorrow, if it's all the same to everyone else," the fatigued sorceress whined.

"I can agree with that," the paladin consented.

"Where did you last see the hammer?" the assassin pointed out.

"It was in the barracks, but I have to warn you of something that might make you hesitant to help me," the blacksmith said truthfully.

"What is it now?" I snapped at her.

"I told you I left it in the barracks when I fled the monastery, what I didn't tell you was what chased me out. A huge demon we are calling The Smith suddenly appeared and started tearing up the forge! He ripped apart steel and wood like it was parchment. He even picked up the anvil with ease and threw it at me. I've never seen anything so strong or fast, I'm lucky to be alive!" She exclaimed.

"Hmm. Well that does complicate things, but rest assured my Lady, we are intent on entering the monastery anyway, but we will find it for you," the paladin said politely.

"Yeah. No monster is gonna stop me from gettin' your hammer back. I promise I'll get it back fur ya!" the barbarian vowed.

"Thanks all of you, I hope you come back safe and sound. Now, let me get to work on your repairs. Chyemme and Scorpious, I will have your armor and your weapons ready by morning, you can count on that. Scorpious if you will please come here, I'll get your measurements now," she replied politely.

"Good night Charsi," the barbarian said with a wink, making the woman blush, but she was wearing that same goofy grin that he was.

How sickening. The whole idea of love made me roll my eyes and gag. What a stupid concept. I could never see how there was anyway in hell that two people could get over their differences for a moment, much less over a lifetime. I don't know how people could stand to be around each other that long. No, love is not real, it is an illusion, a stupid notion dreamed up by people like the paladin whom always have their heads in the clouds. No, here on sanctuary it was all about yourself, every man on his own against the world. I was too annoyed with the whole scene so I left, when back to the tent, and turned in for the night, knowing some other assignment or quest for sure awaited in the morning.


	16. Chapter 16

-1Author's note: Hey guys, sorry that this took so long to get finished and posted, my life got busy between work, travel and vacation. I sincerely hope this chapter was worth your wait. Anyway, thanks as always for reading and reviewing and for those of you that added this story to your alerts and favorites lists. It really means a lot to me and helps with motivation.

**WARNING! This chapter gets a bit violent and graphic in the scene with the Countess!**

The Tower that Time Forgot

Piricus

It was eight in the morning, and still, we hadn't gotten moving. It seemed as if we had been preparing for years instead of hours, and it also seemed like we'd asked everyone in camp for their opinion on what we should do. That irritated me, a lot. I didn't need other people to come up with my action plans for me. I had thought that the paladin would have agreed with me, at least in that regard, but he was the biggest part of the problem. I would have thought he would have kept his mouth shut and asked his imaginary God for guidance, but he seemed hell bent on listening to the drab lectures of the elderly.

"I see. Thank you, Lord Cain, for your wisdom," the paladin said to the old sage respectfully.

"You are quite welcome, noble paladin. I pray that you all return victoriouslyand above all else, alive and safe," the old man replied.

"Are you ready yet, paladin? Everyone else is! Hurry the hell up or we'll leave you behind!" I snapped.

"You would, we wouldn't. You want to go so badly, go by yourself jackass, don't wait up for us," the sorceress piped at me.

"You're wrong, Piricus. Not everybody's here. Whether Scorpious is ready or not, Ryelass and Alminus still aren't here yet," the amazon informed.

"Is he even coming? Ryelass, that is?" the druid said, asking the question that was on everybody's mind.

"Of course I'm coming! What the hell did you think I was going to do? Stay here brooding and be useless? Diablo is still out there and he still has my brother! I will not relent until I have hunted him down and destroyed him! Lord Cain said the Diablo headed east, so that's where I'm going to go! And that demon bitch, Andariel is in the way, so I'm going to alleviate the sisters' suffering and help kill her!" the warrior snapped as he rounded the corner, pulling on his leather gloves with the barbarian in tow.

"You make it seem like being useless is something you haven't done already," I pointed out.

"You'll find that I have plenty of fight left in me, probably more so now than before. I can promise you this though, I'm bound and determined to show you up Piricus, just so I can see the stunned look on your face," the warrior hissed at me.

"You have a long ways to go before that happens, little man. Maybe if you were just a few inches taller, I might find you more credible," I taunted and passed my hand through the air over the short, little warrior's head.

"Don't put your hand that close to me ever again, or I'll cut it off. In fact, I sharpened my sword just this morning, and I'm dying to hit something. Don't tempt me," he snarled at me.

"Ooh. Have a bit of an attitude now, do we? Maybe Diablo should have possessed your brother a long time ago," I sneered.

"Piricus!" The amazon shouted in reprimand, clearly objectionable to what I just said.

She wasn't amused and neither was the warrior. He lashed out at me violently, and almost hit me too, as I hastily blocked his punch. He was a lot faster than I gave him credit for, and swung at me with his other fist in rapid succession. I blocked with my forearm, though as he hit, pain pulsated through that spot. Little though he was, he hit like a hurricane.

I grabbed his wrist and tossed him sideways, but his balance was next to flawless and in an instant he had rebounded and was attacking me again. He kicked at me, but I caught his foot and twisted, throwing him to the ground. Before I knew what had hit me, I was on the ground too. Fast as lightening he had kicked my feet out from under me before I even had time to react. He rolled over and grabbed at the same time I did, so we both ended up on our sides, grasping each other's throats. I was squeezing with no attempt at restraint and so was he. It was just a question of who would give out first, and I can guarantee you it wasn't going to be me.

"I'm going to kill you!" he snarled, though saying words was costing him precious breath.

"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!" I heard the paladin's voice thunder, though hearing his voice only pissed me off more and made me squeeze harder on the warrior's throat.

"NO!" we both choked out together.

"I SAID STOP!" the paladin roared and both of us looked up at him just in time to see him crash his new silver round-shield down between us aimed right for our outstretched arms. We both knew that if we didn't move our arms, the force of the paladin's blow combined with the sturdiness of the metal in his shield would crush them instantly. I knew when to call a bluff, and I could clearly see in the paladin's eyes that he was deadly serious. He wasn't going to hesitate in breaking our arms if they didn't move.

We each held onto each other until the last possible moment, then, truly realizing that the paladin was sincere in his threat, we withdrew our arms just as the shield smashed into the dirt between us with crushing force. We both flipped back onto our feet at the same time and lunged for each other, me reaching for my dagger, him for his sword.

The paladin hastily stepped between us, though that wasn't going to deter either of us. Me especially, I would just as soon hit the paladin anyway. I saw the barbarian roughly grab the warrior around the arms and yank him backwards. The warrior lashed out with his feet as his friend hoisted him into the air in an attempt to restrain him.

"LET GO OF ME ALMINUS! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" the warrior shouted vehemently and struggled fiercely to get free. About the same time someone grabbed me too. They looped their arms under mine, pinning them.

"Control yourself, Piricus!" the amazon roared in my ear. It was she who had grabbed me, and I was surprised at how strong she was, being able to restrain me with the way I was intently struggling against her.

"GET OFF OF ME, WOMAN!" I spat at her, and stomped down hard on her foot. She yelped and let go with one arm and I turned around as best as I was able to glare at her. I locked eyes with her and she grabbed my loose shoulder forcefully.

"Calm down!" she demanded, "and I'll let you go."

If I wanted to, I could have broken free of her if I tried hard enough. Looking into her eyes for some reason made me calm down some, though I was still panting with rage. I was still for moment, so she gently let me go and stepped between myself and the paladin, whom was in front of the warrior. My lip curled and I growled at her loudly. I wanted to strike her so badly, and yet for all my rage I couldn't bring myself to actually do it.

"Don't try it," she warned.

I looked over her shoulder to where the warrior was glaring daggers at me. He was shaking with fury, which amused me some. I brushed myself off and laughed. "Good thing for you warrior that the paladin just saved your life," I said matter-of-factly.

"I seem to recall that he had a hold of you too, jackass. You're the one that's lucky to be standing, though I have to say, I was hoping Ryelass would beat you to pulp. It's what you deserve after that comment. Oh wait--I forgot, he had more than enough reason too even before that," the sorceress snapped at me.

"I was going to, if he hadn't gotten in the way. Damn it, Scorpious! This was none of your business! If you ever get in my way again, if you ever try to keep me from my vengeance, you'll wish you hadn't!" the warrior snarled at the paladin, whom blinked, clearly surprised. "Why the hell did you stop me? He had it coming!"

The paladin got a very serious look on his face. "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord," he replied, quoting his worthless scriptures. "It is as Lord Cain said just last night to Vendra, rise above your enemy do not sink to their level. And rage is a poor reason to take a life, ultimately such a thing will destroy your soul. If not from hate, then from guilt," the paladin replied sagely.

"No it won't! I'd have no regrets about ripping him to pieces! I don't think anyone here would blame me if I did!" the warrior snapped.

"I will hold you accountable for your actions, even if I stand alone in the regard. But, it's not my wrath you should be concerned about, Ryelass. You should fear the wrath of almighty God. I don't think I have to remind you that he said to turn the other cheek," the paladin remarked with conviction.

"You'll what!? Are you telling me that you're going to protect him!?" the warrior spat in disgust, "Maybe you're too thick to notice, but he HATES you! He said it himself that he wants to kill you! Why the hell would you protect him?"

"Paladin, if you even attempt to protect me, I will kill you myself for trying," I growled in utter contempt. "I don't need anyone's protection, especially not yours! I'd just as soon kill myself!"

"See!" the warrior growled.

"I seek no vengeance against those that wrong me, and though Piricus is far from innocent and does quite probably deserve the treatment you would confer upon him, I will not allow you to harm him, and by that same right, I will not allow him to hurt anyone else either. We are here to fight evil, not each other," he preached.

"I don't believe in a word you've just said! What the hell do you think you are, some kind of saint or something?! You're human just like the rest of us, you feel hate and anger just like we do! If you tell me you've never killed anyone, I cut you down where you stand for lying to me! I'm damn sure that you've killed people before, and just because they don't believe you're idealistic bullshit!" the warrior raved in anger.

"I'm not perfect, and I'm far from a saint. But the point is that I constantly try to be a better person. Yes, I have killed before, it is with great shame I admit I was once a part of the Zakarum inquistion, but that was before my new order, and before I knew better," the paladin admitted shamefully and hung his head for a moment.

"So you claim that taking a life in anger is wrong, but taking one in_ righteous _anger isn't? Killing for God is okay to you, isn't it? That's how you justify what you did and don't lose sleep over it at night!" the warrior shouted in rage.

Fire flashed in the paladin's eyes. "No, it isn't! You have no idea what I struggle with each and every day! But I try to forgive others so that I, in turn may be forgiven. Judge ye not, lest ye be judged," the paladin said powerfully, and with a strong undertone of regret.

This only seemed to make the warrior even more touchy. "Things don't work that way in the real world! Hate, judgment, and vengeance are just a big part of life!" he spat.

"They shouldn't be," the paladin said softly, "We'd be much better off without them."

"YOU ARE AN IDEALISTIC IDIOT, SCORPIOUS!" the warrior thundered.

I couldn't help myself, it was too sweet, to perfect. I burst out laughing as hard as my lungs would allow for. "Now you see!" I cackled. "Took you long enough!"

"Let go of me, Alminus!" the warrior snapped pointedly at his large friend whom still held him.

"Ryelass, listen ter yurself! Listen ter what yur sayin'!" the barbarian reprimanded.

"I know exactly what I'm saying!" he spat. "Let me go, right now, damn it!" he growled.

"'R ya gonna be calm now? I ain't gonna put ya down unless ya 'r," the barbarian reasoned.

"I'm as calm as I'm going to be," he assured, though not without some venom behind his words.

"Alrigh'," the barbarian said uncertainly, and slowly released him.

He glowered at me. "If you ever say that about my brother again, not even God himself will save you from me. And you--" the warrior spat at the paladin, "from now on, you stay out of my way too!"

Everyone but me seemed stunned. The paladin actually looked hurt some. He sighed heavily and said, "then bear in mind the words I have just spoke to you. Think," the paladin warned, "before you act."

"Let's go," the warrior said harshly and walked over to a stunned rogue. "Laurella," the warrior began, though his words were much softer when he spoke to her, "are you ready?"

She blinked and looked to the paladin, whom nodded wordlessly to reassure her. "I think so, but in order to get to the monastery, we'll have to go back to the Dark Wood, then make our way past the Black Marsh and then into the Tamoe Highlands. It is a three day journey, and I'm afraid that I don't know the way to the waypoint that is supposedly in the Black Marsh, so we'll need to make sure we have adequate provisions and gear, we're going to have to make camp along the way," she informed.

"We have long way to go," the sorcerer remarked simply.

"Don't worry," the sorceress assured. "We've already thought of that," she said as she gestured to a large bundle of packs behind them. "I'll carry one and so will Sovellis," she informed, "but we need two more people."

"I'll carry one," the paladin offered, surprising no one. "Maria, how about you?" he asked the assassin politely.

She shook her head. "Sorry, I brought my own," she remarked simply, gesturing to her own, brown bag.

"What's the matter, assassin? Afraid someone might poison your food?" I asked her with a grin.

"I know _you_ would in a heartbeat, especially with as fond of poisons as you necromancers are, you can conjure it from practically nothing," she shot back.

"And that's why he won't be getting anywhere near the food," the sorceress assured.

"I'm sure the assassin doesn't want you preparing her food either, sorceress. She doesn't really like mages, but you seem to stupid to notice," I snickered at her.

She got a sour look on her face and looked at the assassin with some dislike. "Is that true?" she asked with a growl.

"No, it not," the sorcerer supplied for the assassin. "If she not trust us, then she not fight alongside us," he assured.

The assassin nodded. "He's right, but we've been through this already. I have nothing against you, I like you just fine regardless of you being a mage. Don't take it personal, I wouldn't allow anyone else to fix my food for me either," she replied truthfully.

"I'll bet you'd let Scorpious," the sorceress retorted sorely.

The assassin narrowed her eyes. "That is another matter entirely."

I laughed. "Assassin, it's a wonder that you're still alive if you think just because someone is a so called "man of god" that they are trustworthy. You of all people should know that some of the most corrupted men in history came from the church, or did your witless mentors forget to teach you that? Two words: _ Archbishop Lazarus,_" I sneered at her. "Even your precious paladin just admitted not a moment ago that he was part of the Zakarum inquisition that killed thousands, or do you have selective memory loss? No, he's just as much of a killer as you are, I wouldn't trust him as far as you can throw him," I laughed, looking directly at both of them.

"He is far from a cold-blooded killer! We are nothing alike!" she hissed at me in his defense. "He is a far better person than any one of us here," she growled.

"Maria . . ." the paladin said quietly, a little shocked by her display.

"I should think that we've all had our fill of discontenting chatter. We should leave now, so that we may reach the monastery in the time Lady Laurella has allotted for," the druid said placatingly.

"It's no big deal, I'll carry tha other pack," the barbarian offered and walked over to the pile picking one up effortlessly.

"That's settled, we should go," the amazon replied and walked ahead to the waypoint. "Let's go," she said to the rogue, whom nodded and stepped onto the magical teleportation device.

Within moments, everyone had stepped into the eerie mists of the Dark Wood, and the rogue resumed guiding us. It wasn't long before the blackened woods gave way to swampy marshlands. I growled at the uncomfortable squishing feeling my leather boots gave me as I sloshed muck all over them just trying to walk. The whole place reeked of mud, decaying foliage, and stagnant water mixed with old, stale blood.

"Gross!" the sorceress squeaked as she stepped down up to her ankles in mud. Seeing as how her shoes were only ankle-high to begin with, mud flowed down into them all over her socks and feet.

"I agree," the amazon said sympathetically as she too stepped down through the black groundwater and sunk halfway up her leather greaves in mud. She placed both of her hands on her left knee and pushed, giving her enough leverage to pull her leg out of the grunge with a wet popping sound.

"Tell me this isn't one of the places we'll have to make camp," the sorceress griped further. "Because there's no way I'm sleeping in or on this," she said prissily.

"I know this place is far from appealing, Vendra, but it looks like we have no other choice. According to lady Laurella we can't get through the Black Marsh in just one day," the paladin reminded gently.

"Hey, at least it ain't snowin'," the barbarian said optimistically. "I've had ter sleep in the snow many 'o times when I was home in the Steppes."

"Tell me you had blankets at least," the sorceress said dramatically.

"Not always," he informed with a shrug. "I've slept just li' this before. Then again, I'm kinda used ter it, so cold don't really bother me. Ya should ask Ryelass. Most o' the time he was righ' there with me."

"No offense Ryelass," the sorceress began," but I can't really see you sleeping shirtless in the snow and not freezing. Alminus is a lot bigger and has tougher skin than you do."

The warrior grinned. "Yeah, that's true, but I have the same amount of willpower that he does, and that alone has gotten me through a lot of things worse than that. You're only cold if you think about it."

"Knowing you two, you were probably snuggling together, " I said with a sarcastic laugh.

"We're close, but not tha' close," the barbarian said with a growl at me.

"What I don't get is why the two of you were out in the snow topless anyway," the sorceress said with an amused snort.

"It's a long story," the warrior sighed.

"Well, we've got plenty of time," she replied curiously.

"I'm intrigued as well, but I believe that story would be best at fireside later," the druid remarked.

"He's right. We all need to pay close attention, seeing as how we can't exactly see where we're putting our feet. We don't know what kind of traps the demons could have set for us," the assassin agreed.

"With you, everything is always about secrecy and traps. Not everything is that conniving, Maria," the sorceress pointed out.

"When you're not looking for them is when you fall into them," the amazon supplied, making the assassin nod, concurring.

"It odd though. We see no demons yet," the sorcerer pointed out, and even I couldn't deny that it was odd and a foreboding to something else.

"Look over there," the sorceress said, pointing a ways off to the left. There rising out of a thicket of mold-ridden trees was what looked like a stone tower. It was blacked, though from age or fire, I couldn't tell which.

"Yur righ', I noticed it too," the barbarian affirmed, squinting his eyes.

"Well done, both of you. Anyone with eyes can see it, with it being so tall and what not," I informed, rolling my eyes.

The sorceress glared at me. "If it was so obvious, why didn't you point it out sooner?" she retorted.

"Because that tower isn't somewhere I want to go," I remarked simply.

"He's right," the paladin answered, making me laugh.

"Of course I am," I said with a grin.

"Lady Akara warned me this morning to stay away from that tower," he added, ignoring me completely.

Our rogue guide gave us her opinion was well. "I've heard that tower is haunted by demonic ghosts," she said casting it a weary glance.

"Is anything here not?" I asked sarcastically.

"Probably not," she admitted, "Andariel's hold over this land is almost complete, save our encampment and the immediate surrounding area that all of you cleared. At any rate, I personally knew some of our sisters that went in there. None of them have returned yet, or so Kashya told me. They left before I was captured, which was about a month ago."

"Then they're dead," the assassin said plainly.

"We don't know that," the warrior disagreed. "I mean, we found Laurella," he pointed out.

"That was an unbelievable twist of fate and a hell of a lot of luck for her," the assassin furthered, "the chances of that happening again are next to impossible."

"But shouldn't that chance, that slim possibility be reason enough?" the warrior argued, pushing the point.

"Do you have a death wish?" I asked, irritated. "Because you don't need to go into that tower if you do. I can fix that personally."

"The hell you could," he snorted.

"I, for one, don't like the idea of leaving something that evil alone. It could come back to haunt us when we least expect it," the druid interrupted. "And I think the sisters would appreciate it, so they no longer have to worry about it."

"And the treasure rumor has nothing to do with your present attitude, druid?" I asked skeptically.

"Of course not, worldly possessions mean little to me," he answered, a little offended. I snorted, letting that substitute for words.

The assassin frowned. "We don't have time to go chasing shadows. We don't even know what's down there. We're already on a quest for the Horadric Malus. The sooner we can get it back to Charsi and out of the hands of evil, the better. I don't want to deal with the problems it will cause us if those demons taint and start making weapons with it."

"That's the way I feel about it," the amazon remarked from the rear. She shot me an icy look before I opened my mouth to tell her what she thought didn't matter to me. To me, no one's opinion mattered but my own, and I wasn't going into that tower.

"We know something," the male mage pointed out. "We find that book," he pointed out.

"All the more reason to avoid that place like the plague," his sorceress nag imputed.

The paladin looked around. "Alminus, Sovellis, Laurella?" he asked.

The bear of a man nodded at the druid. "I think leavin' it unchecked is a bad idea."

The sorcerer stroked his chin in thought. "I agree. We should cleanse place."

The sorceress groaned. "You've got to be kidding me, Sovellis! Have you lost your mind?"

"We swear oath, you and me, to fight whenever and wherever we find evil," he said, apparently reminding her of some vow they had taken of which I was not previously aware.

She sighed. "There's no point in arguing with you and there's no way I'm leaving you to go by yourself, you'd get yourself killed. So if you go, I go too," she said reluctantly.

The rogue looked the paladin directly in his eyes. "If there is any chance that I save even one of my sisters, I will go."

"Then we are split down the middle," the paladin sighed.

"Why don't you five go and the rest of us continue ahead?" the amazon suggested.

"We can't. We need Laurella or we'd wander around blind," the assassin said pointedly. "Scorpious?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "It would be in our best interests to stay together. There are too many creatures lurking about. I don't like this at all, but as a paladin I swore the same oath as you two," he said gesturing to the sorcerer and sorceress. "I swore to vanquish evil wherever I found it."

"You're doing a good job paladin. You only have the entire of hell and Sanctuary to go," I mocked. This man was stupid if he thought that one, insignificant life was going to change the grand scheme of things. Both he and I would never make more than a quarter of a dot on the map of history, if at all.

He glared at me. "I will render what assistance I can."

The amazon stepped up beside him. "I'm with you too," she assured.

The assassin glared at me. "That means I'll go as well. I'm not staying here alone with him," she growled at me, "I might kill him."

I smirked. She said that as an empty threat, but if she actually knew who I was she'd try it for sure. And knowing the paladin, he'd probably go all righteous and try to help her. When I thought about it I could probably take them both on at once, after all, I did kill seven assassins, but that was not a battle that I wanted to fight here. Especially not with the others around and demons lurking about. I may could fight two of them, but if they all ganged up on me my death would be imminent and quick. No one, save maybe Lord Rathma, would be able to fend off so many powers at once, and even he would have to raise an army of undead to do it.

"That would leave you by yourself, Piricus," the paladin said to me, "I'd advise you to come with us."

I raised an eyebrow. "You give me advice? That's a waste of breath."

The amazon sighed. "Are you coming or not," she asked me.

"I guess," I answered, "but when we find the treasure you'll have to pay up."

"What's the matter jackass? Afraid to be by yourself?" the sorceress asked scathingly.

"Hardly, but I figure we'll pile up bodies faster and I could use some enjoyable company for a change that I can get from their bones."

"You're disturbing," she spat.

"Say what you want," I shot back and fell into place behind the others. "I swear by Trag 'Oul rogue, that if there's nothing down here of value I'm going to curse you with nightmares every day until you die," I threatened. "This had better not be for nothing."

"I doubt you could. Her mind is better guarded than you think," the amazon said in her defense.

"Oh, I don't think so, but you never know until you try," I told her with a sadistic smile.

"I'll kill you if you try," the warrior hissed.

"Didn't you try that earlier and fail?" I taunted, "Oh, and according to the paladin to do that you'd have to kill him too," I said glaring at the holy man and the warrior with contempt.

"I've given him fair warning," the warrior said curtly making the paladin sigh and the assassin scowl. I had the feeling that neither her, nor anyone else here save me, would let him knowingly hurt the paladin. By Trag 'Oul we hadn't even known this man a month, yet already he had everyone around me save the warrior and myself eating out of the palm of his hand. It was sickening.

"Yur bein' dramatic," the barbarian said in reprimand. "That's enough buddy, let it go. Please?" the large man requested sincerely.

"Fine," the warrior growled at him, but he acquiesced to his request and fell silent.

Oddly enough, we made our way to the tower unchallenged, our boots sloshing through the mush. If the air and been still before, now it was dead as we came up to the ruins of one side. Even the demons seemed to be avoiding this area for good reason. The evil that permeated out of the small trap door in the middle of the ruined floor was enough to almost knock me over.

"I'll go first," the paladin offered as he lifted the hatch and placed his armored foot on a rickety old ladder beneath it. After a few moments, he called up to us.

The assassin grabbed a bottle from a pouch on her pack full of red-orange liquid. A fire bomb. She also grabbed a torch from her pack and broke the potion over it. It burst into flame upon impact. Slowly, she descended the ladder as well, passing the torch to the paladin below.

One by one we filed down into the dark and dank dungeon below. We were in a small room about ten feet across, and at the far end there was a small hole, where the wall had fallen or had been broken purposely.

"This place reeks of death," I remarked with a grin. I was back in my element once again.

"Tell us something we don't know," the sorceress shot at me," this place reeks, period."

"It smells like blood," the druid said plainly as he watched his wolf sniff around.

"This tower will be cleansed," the paladin said righteously.

"I certainly hope so," the amazon said from beside him.

"Let's go," the assassin said plainly, "I can scout ahead if you want me to. Shadows are my element."

"Why don't you?" the sorceress asked a little uneasily.

"It's dangerous," the paladin replied, "but I trust you can handle yourself. Go ahead, Maria. We'll wait here."

She nodded as she stepped into the blackness, vanishing without a trace. That was another thing. If I ended up fighting her, it wouldn't be at night.

We stood in silence, straining our ears. The only sound we heard was the sound of feathers as the druid's bird stretched its wings from where it was perched on his shoulder. Suddenly, just as she had left, the assassin returned, seemingly melding out of the shadows into corporeal form.

"Well?" the warrior asked her.

"I checked the entire perimeter of this place, and it's empty. There's nothing here but us," she answered.

"Is that it? The barbarian asked skeptically. For once, I didn't blame him.

"That's it for this level, there was a staircase at the far end, but I didn't go down," she explained.

"Okay then, let's proceed with caution," the paladin stated. Well, that was obvious.

"I don't think you need to remind anybody," the sorceress replied, concurring with my own thoughts. Well, almost the same, seeing as how she had been the one so far that always tripped, screamed or fell, the paladin wouldn't exactly waste his lectures by telling her.

The paladin disappeared down the entryway and we followed suit. It was an eerie silence that met us and our footsteps seemed to echo so loudly we might as well have been shouting. Even the assassin seemed to be making noise and she was the stealthiest one of us all.

"This doesn' feel righ'," the barbarian whispered, a deafening sound.

We reached the staircase that the assassin had informed us of. "You want me to go down first again?" she asked.

"Wait," said the rogue as a trail of stars sparkled into existence going down the steps.

The amazon nodded. "She's right. One, two, three, four--ten. There are ten fully armed goatmen down there, they're just standing around though. Looks like they're talking, if demons can talk. But they don't look like the ones we saw earlier. They're blood-red," she stated.

"Blood Clan," the druid pointed out, "they are a different variety of goatmen than the Night Clan we fought yesterday. These make sacrifices to themselves. They kill just to see blood flow and then drink it. Rumor has it that's how they got their color to begin with. Anyway, they're naturally drawn to places there has been extreme bloodshed. And here, vast quantities have been spilled. If you don't believe the legend, you can definitely believe the smell," he informed and wrinkled his nose.

"Alright. Now that we know what we're up against we have an advantage. They won't see us coming until we're right on top of them. We'll go down the stairs together, as quickly as we're able, and attack all at once. There are ten of us and ten of them, so everyone take the demon nearest to you," the paladin instructed.

"Paladin, why is it that you're always the one telling us what to do?" I pointed out rather rudely, annoyed with the fact the paladin seemed to be the head of this party and our tactician too.

"Do you have a better suggestion, Piricus?" he asked me plainly.

"Nah he don't. That's why he's mad. Well I got news for ya Piricus, we follow Scorpious because he's smart and he actually cares 'bout us and doesn't want to see us die. Ya wouldn't even blink if one of us died," the barbarian pointed out.

"Hey, maybe you do have some intelligence you big oaf if you can at least see that much is true. Death comes sooner or later for everyone, sooner for those that like to throw themselves into the heat of battle like witless morons, yourself included in that," I laughed, making him scowl at me.

"Let's go," the paladin interjected before a fight could break out or the banter could continue. "But remember to stay alert, the Blood Clan probably aren't the only things down--" he stopped mid-sentence just as I was about to tell him to shut the hell up so I could listen better.

A ghostly echo came drifting to our ears, faint, like a whisper. I didn't need to ask what was making that noise, as a necromancer I would have been shamed if I didn't know. Studying undead the enemy could conjure or just rogue monsters animated by black energy from the spirit realm was a part of a necromancer's basic education.

"What's going on?" the sorceress asked. "What was that noise?"

"Ghosts," the paladin and I hissed at the same time.

She snorted. "Ghosts? Are you serious? Ghosts are just fairytales. The word 'ghost' can mean anything from the spirit realm."

"Shut up sorceress. Every time you speak you waste the air that fills your clueless head. It appears that even the paladin knows more than you do," I growled at the ignorant nag.

"Not everyone wants to know as much about death and evil spirits as you do. It repulses some of us," the druid snapped at me in the sorceress' defense.

"Piricus is right. Be quiet or you'll draw them strait to us," the assassin said seriously.

"I don't see how. They're not in here with us so we can avoid them if we want," the sorceress continued ignorantly.

"Idiot woman, you are a sad excuse for a mage. Do you know nothing? If you don't stop talking right now, I'll rot out your tongue. I'd like to see your precious paladin try to bail you out of that, I don't think he can," I threatened, meaning every word. I had a spell on the tip of my tongue, but the paladin raised up his hand for silence as the sorceress opened her mouth.

"Ghosts are a lesser form of wraiths," the paladin whispered.

Apparently the light went on in the sorceress' useless head. "I see. I know what a wraith is," she said quietly.

"That make them dangerous. They leech mana," the sorcerer supplied.

"Then, since you know so much you should also know you imbecile, that wraiths--" I began.

"COME THROUGH WALLS!" the amazon shouted in alarm as a skeletal head came strait through the stone wall beside her.

A moment passed and the rest of the body surfaced into view. The ghost had a humanoid skull, a long, bony spine and skeletal wings. Though, the worst part of them was the thick, eerie blue-white energy that was wrapped around the wing bones and trailed out behind them in uneven waves like grotesque feathers.

The energy was that of death, but it was tainted. The wings were also the source of a great spiritual energy; judging by how thick and mucus-like the wings were and how they were glowing, I'd say they had consumed a fair amount of mana in the not too distant past. That would make sense, if they had feed off of the idiot rogues that, according to our rogue, had ventured down here not to long ago.

The amazon wasted no time in attacking this new horror, she smashed the butt of her spear sideways into the creature's protruding skull. There was a loud cracking sound, and chips of the creature's cranium went flying, however the strike only hindered the creature's progress, not stopped it.

The creature then used its only physical weapon, its mouth, and bit down on the spear and pulled it, jerking the amazon with it. It flung her sideways, then dropped the spear and dove after her. She shot out both hands and grabbed the wing bones on either side closely to where the wings intercepted the spine and pushed as hard as she could, jerking the monster's head backward, just a nanosecond before the skeletal monster would have taken a bite out of her face. She became engaged in a fierce grappling match on the ground, shoving it back. But, it was clear as day to me that she was tiring fast. Energy from around the monstrosity's wings enveloped her hands upon the contact and traveled all the way up her arms. The glow seemed to intensify as it traveled back onto the creature's body and lit up its sickly-looking wings. It was rapidly draining her mana, her spiritual force. And while those that didn't rely on mana to fight, like she did, had an advantage, the cold hard truth was that anyone, melee fighter or not, would die if they lost all of their spiritual energy. Spiritual energy was what kept the mind and soul alive, without it, we'd be just a shell.

"CHYEMME!" practically everyone but the assassin and myself yelled.

The sorceress conjured a fireball and hurled it at the creature. I knew instantly that move would backfire, but this was the sorceress we were talking about. I swear by Trag 'Oul that if that woman was the best the Zhan-Esu could muster up, then their order was doomed. The ball of fiery energy hit the creature in the side, and, instead of doing damage, it was instantly absorbed into the undead monster's demonic wings, feeding their demented appearance. She blinked and then yelped In alarm as another ghost came out of the all beside her, jaws snapping.

The sorceress instinctively threw her staff out in front of herself, a reflexive, but good move on her part. She hit the creature in such a way that her staff was pressed against the creature's front diagonally, giving her good leverage to push it back. However, she was soon having the same problem as the amazon, the demonic energy soon flowed up her staff onto her arms. She started screaming loudly in pain, because I forgot to mention for those of us so highly attuned to our spiritual energies and used them on a regular basis, that made us made us more aware of when it was being torn away. For us casters, being drained by one of these things was the equivalent of having someone rip the flesh off our bones.

The sorcerer raced to her rescue and smashed his staff into the creature, but to no avail. At least he had the sense to back off before the energy could channel up his weapon and leech his mana too. He looked utterly helpless, and in a flash he was in the same predicament. A ghost burst through the floor and bit roughly into his leg. He gritted his teeth in pain, and grabbed the monster's skull directly, however I could see no other way to pry the creature off.

These monsters seemed to know exactly where to go to find the greatest sources of power. They had targeted those of us that used magic. Another one popped up right in front of the druid, and that just left me. I jumped back just in time for a skeletal spirit to come flying at me through the wall.

My first instinct was to conjure a bone shield, to put a physical barrier between me and my adversary, however I immediately knew that wasn't going to work. Ghosts were ethereal, bones were not. The thing would just come strait through it. Hitting it was also out of the question, it would zap the energy strait out of me. Then again, if I shot my Teeth spell at it, the monster would absorb it and become even stronger. And curses would help kill something, not kill them directly. That didn't leave me much choice. Still though, the plan I had came to mind instantaneously.

Animating my will into a ball of energy, I shot it at the ground, calling forth the dirt, sediment, and the dust and molding them into a clay golem that stepped between me and the ghost just moments after its birth. I couldn't hit the thing, but my golem could. Since it was made out of dirt and had no mana, the demons couldn't feed on it. I muttered a familiar spell, a curse just for this occasion. A red glow wrapped around the monster. It absorbed the curse into its wings, sealing the effects. My golem hit the monster, damaging some of the wing bones. The monster wavered in the air, but then bit my golem in the arm. The undead menace recoiled sharply as bite marks appeared on its wing. I smiled as it bit down again. My golem didn't flinch, and the mud mass simply shifted to fill the injury, but the wraith let out a wailing noise and it's right wing snapped off and fell. That was an excellent use of one of my most precious skills, technically it was similar to the paladin's thorn aura. Necromancers aptly named it the Iron Maiden curse. Without a wing, the demon fluttered helplessly to the ground, where my clay golem stomped down on its skull, crushing it flat.

I looked over to see the druid's wolf lunge at the monster in front of him and quick as lightening the druid scruffed his animal and yanked it back. "NO!" he said to his mutt sternly. I could see why he did, animals had mana too. He seemed to be at a loss for what to do, he just kept backing up until at last he had nowhere to go. The druid swung his club desperately, managing to destroy an auxiliary wing bone, but not much else.

Looking around, everyone seemed stunned. The paladin quickly took charge, as he often did. He closed his eyes and shouted something. Next thing we knew, white stars burst into existence all around the room like glittering diamonds. They appeared to be clustering around each individual member of our party, even me. Though, the aura rapidly pissed me off, the stars hit and ate holes through my golem, crumbling it to the floor. I despised paladins and I especially couldn't stand their sanctuary aura. It would hit, knock back, and damage any and all undead, malicious or not.

"PALADIN!" I thundered, eyeing the heap of clay at my feet. "You're going to pay for this! You want to see stars? I'll give you stars!"

He looked at me and sighed. "Look around, Piricus. My aura is helping a lot more than hurting. I think you can live with the sacrifice. You can conjure another when this is over," he assured, though slightly with a frown.

He was right, although I'd never tell him that. Maybe soon I'd be able to use his skeleton to replace my golem. I looked around, all around us stars were smashing into the undead ghosts, knocking them back and eating holes through them. The monsters tried to absorb the righteous energies, but as they did, they seemed to disintegrate at a faster rate. The amazon shouted, and with a final push and some help from the paladin's aura she knocked her attacker backward and, returning to her feet, she lunged for her spear. Once she had it, she rapidly twirled it around and in one, graceful swing she severed the monster's head from its spine. The bones fell to the ground in a disheveled heap, releasing the demonic energy and causing it to dissipate into nothing.

The paladin turned immediately to help the druid, whom was closest to him. He charged in, sword high overhead and swiftly decapitated the ghost in one stroke. White fire washed over the enemy undead and mixed in with the unholy energy of its wings, causing an explosion of light that shattered the remaining bones into splinters.

At this point the sorcerer and sorceress were in real trouble, both where screaming in anguish and you could see the physical toll that the mana-leeching ghosts were causing. The paladin addressed the situation swiftly. At the rate we were losing them, he would only be able to save one of them in time.

Completely throwing away and reservations he may have had, the paladin turned sharply to the warrior. "Ryelass! Give me your sword! Hurry!"

The warrior blinked. "What? Why?" he asked a little irritated.

"Just do it! Do it now or they die!" the paladin said in a hurried tone as he gestured to the two dying magi.

The warrior nodded, apparently putting aside his earlier conflict with the paladin. He tossed his steel blade through the air to the paladin, whom caught it by the handle. Wasting not even a second, the paladin opened up his hand and ran his palm over one of the edges of the blade, cutting himself. Blood began leaking out of the wound, and he positioned his hand so that it fell on the warrior's blade, staining it. The paladin swiftly smeared the whole blade with his blood and I heard him whisper and urgent prayer. Oddly enough, instead of dripping or running off the sword, the paladin's blood was absorbed into it like the metal had become cloth instead. It vanished into the metal without a trace, leaving only shimmering steel behind.

The paladin tossed the weapon back to the warrior, whom caught it with ease. "Help Sovellis! Quickly!" the paladin commanded as he himself rushed after the sorceress. Despite his powerful aura, the undead wraiths were still attacking them and growing stronger with every passing second. Strong enough to combat the Sanctuary aura that was burning holes in their wings. Every time a hole formed, the ample mana the ghosts were draining just closed them again.

The paladin ran at the attacking wraith and swung his sword violently, severing one of the monster's wings. Like before, white fire engulfed the monster and coupled with the aura, the creature exploded.

Looking over my shoulder, I found that the warrior was acting similarly. He too had rushed the ghost that was attacking the sorcerer. He bashed the thing with his shield and with help from the paladin's aura, knocked it back. Then he slashed with his sword, catching it right on the wing. It then became clear what the paladin had done. The warrior's blade also burst into white flame and seared a trail through the disgusting wing and its energy. The strike cut the creature directly in half and the remains exploded.

The sorcerer wobbled dangerously on his feet and the short warrior tried to steady him as best as he was able. I looked over to the paladin, and he was now holding the sorceress in his arms as he helped her to the ground. Their salvation had come in the nick of time. Interesting. I had heard paladins could bless things by making a small sacrifice.

The sorceress panted, out of breath and shook heavily. "I . . ." was all she could manage. "SOVELLIS!" she yelped suddenly and looked around wildly searching for him.

"He's fine my lady, calm down," the paladin assured and gestured to the right where the warrior was tending to the mage.

"Vendra," the sorcerer called, slightly weak, "you okay?"

"I . . .I think so," she replied uncertainly, but as she tried to stand she stumbled some.

"Easy my lady, that was a nasty encounter," the paladin said seriously.

"Don't worry about us. A part of our mage training was to learn an inner fire we can carry around with us. It keeps us warm and helps us regain our mana," the sorceress assured.

"I know the ability you're talking about, but it still would take a couple of hours for the two of you to recover. We don't have that much time to waste," the assassin said truthfully.

"Well, what are we going to do? We can't just leave them behind," the amazon argued, casting the two magi a concerned glance.

"Let them meditate with me, I can share my prayers with them and replenish their mana in twice the time coupled with their inner fire," the paladin requested calmly.

"Even so . .well," the assassin began, "if you say you can, then you can," she agreed. "But, why don't you three stay up here where it's safe and in the interest of time, the rest of us will clear the catacombs," she suggested.

I scoffed. "You disappoint me, assassin. I would have thought you'd finish them off while they're weak. Isn't that what your cowardly kind do? But it's just as well. If you leave the three of them alone up here, they'll die anyway," I laughed.

"Y's that?" the barbarian asked, confused.

"Because if more ghosts or anything else comes along, they'll be too deep in meditation to defend themselves," the assassin said plainly.

"I'll stay here with them," the amazon offered.

I chuckled. "Oh yes, seeing as how you almost died yourself, you'd be a great help."

She sighed. "I'm of better use than you are, Piricus."

"Yes, and that's why we need you to continue on with the rest of us," the warrior remarked.

"I'll stay," the assassin said quietly.

I laughed. "You? Protect mages? Oh assassin, your friends would have your head."

She scowled at me. "They've done nothing wrong. So to me, they are people just the same as anyone else."

"Ooh! A compassionate assassin! Now I've seen everything! Oh wait, I almost forgot, the paladin's staying too. You don't care about the mages, but you don't want anything to happen to your precious paladin. Isn't that right?" I taunted, as I was completely sure that was the case.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, as usual," she hissed.

"Oh, but I do," I said giving her a cocky smile.

"Speaking of having heads, I'll have yours if you don't get moving and leave us alone," she growled.

"Speaking of wasted time, this banter isn't helping. Let us go quickly and get this over with," the peacekeeper druid interjected.

"Amen," the amazon agreed and glanced directly at me.

"What?" I asked her mockingly.

"I don't know how we ever get anything done with you around," she admitted.

I snorted. "Trust me you'd have one hell of a time doing things _without_ me." That much was true. I carried more than my fair share of weight and having me around with my minions was like taking a small army with you. Speaking of which, just how the hell had I ended up with all of these people anyway? I could easily have done all of this by myself, that much was also true. I supposed this was all my fault to begin with, I had allowed the amazon to come with me at first. Everything had kind of snowballed from there.

"We'll see," she said to me with a smirk.

"Tha's settled. Le's go," the barbarian affirmed and readied his hefty axe, stepping onto the staircase. "I'll go first," he offered.

"I've got your back Alminus. I'll be right behind you," the warrior assured.

"We all will," the amazon affirmed, nudging me. "Isn't that right, Piricus?"

I pushed her back roughly. "Don't get that close to me, amazon. You smell like sweat and muck. But it's true. I would much rather everyone charge in like fools in front of me. That way, they are sure to die first," I said plainly.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, you don't exactly smell like a rose either," she retorted.

"Ignore 'im Chyemme. Come on," the barbarian chided.

"I'm coming," she said apologetically and disappeared down the staircase after the warrior and barbarian. One by one, the rogue, the druid, and myself filed down after them. Before descending the staircase however, I turned to the paladin.

"Oh, and paladin, try not to think too hard, I know it hurts," I mocked.

"Just go Piricus, or the others will leave you behind," he said plainly.

"Oh, well now, we wouldn't want that," I said sarcastically and walked down the stairs. I guess what the paladin said about the others leaving me behind was the truth, because by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, the others had fiercely engaged the ten Blood Clan in battle.

Both the warrior and the barbarian had taken on two monsters at once. The warrior parried the poleaxe of one with his shield and the other with his sword. Out of hands, he took to using his legs. He kneed one strait in the groin. I guess that part must have been humanoid because the monster dropped its weapon, brayed in pain and leaned forward grossly off balance. The warrior instantly took advantage of this and rammed his sword up under the creature's jaw, impaling its head. Then, lightening quick he refolded, batted the second demon's poleaxe out to one side with a swipe of his shield and ran it through in the gut. He twisted his blade, causing the monster to roar in pain, then sharply yanked it out, eviscerating it. Guts spilled out all over the floor and soon the Blood Clan fell over dead.

The barbarian gave a mighty shout as he shoved two demons backward off his axe. The one to his left recovered first and charged him, head down. I actually heard the barbarian laugh as he took one hand, grabbed one of the creature's horns and used it to toss the 300 pound monster into the wall next to him like he was tossing a ball. The demon smashed into the stone and collapsed to the floor, dazed. The gargantuan barbarian kicked the helpless monster mercilessly in the side, shattering bones, before he embedded his axe into his adversary's skull.

The second monster charged him too. The large man yielded aside hastily, balled up his fist and punched the demon directly in the forehead. I heard a loud crack and the barbarian cringed. The idiot had either broken or severely cracked his own knuckles, though I must admit, he halted the monster considerably. The Blood Clan staggered back and he swung his axe, but the creature recovered quickly and blocked with its own weapon. The monster made the mistake of trying to grab the barbarian with one hand. I blinked and coughed in surprise as the barbarian grabbed the outstretched appendage, pulled the demon into him, then head-butted it with a zesty battle yell. To my utter amazement, he stumbled back a bit, but the demon fell over backwards, and he cleaved its head clear of its shoulders. By Trag 'Oul the man was crazy, he'd likely injure himself as well as the demons, but no one, not even me, could deny just how strong he was. It was almost superhuman. But strength or no, he still wasn't a match for my necromancy, I could zap the power right out of him and leave him as helpless as a mouse in front of a cobra.

Another of the six remaining creatures brayed, calling my attention across the room. The rogue was firing in rapid succession, pumping one demon full of arrows, in critical places even, bit it wasn't stopping. It thundered toward her with its weapon point first. It had almost reached her and I saw a flicker of panic in her silvery eyes. In a last, desperate attempt, she shot the monster directly in the eyes. This tactic worked, because blinded, the thing charged strait into a wall, broke through several layers of stone and wood, and, conveniently for her, snapped its own neck.

"You alrigh' Laurella?" the barbarian asked in concern as he reached her.

"I'm fine," she assured.

"Good! Hey Alminus, can I get a hand over here?!" the amazon called through gritted teeth. She was currently struggling to stand her own ground, she had locked her spear on a monster's poleaxe. The creature snorted in her face.

"Damn! Your breath is absolutely VILE! Get off of me!" she hissed at it and shoved her spear against its chest, knocking the wind out of it.

"I'm comin'," the barbarian said quickly and raced swiftly to her aid. He ran directly behind the creature, looped one gargantuan arm around its neck and yanked it backwards roughly. Instantly the demon dropped its weapon and used its hands to grab the barbarian's arm, trying desperately to escape his choke hold. When the barbarian didn't yield in the slightest, it began coughing and thrashing violently, though surprisingly it only moved the barbarian minimally. Moments past, until at last with a final weak bray, the demon blacked out. Once limp, the barbarian growled and viciously twisted its head, snapping the demons neck with a loud crack.

"Thanks Alminus," the amazon said in gratitude.

"No problem," he said with a smile.

The came a loud snarl from the corner as the druid's wolf lunged at one of the scarlet demons, nimbly dodging under a deadly strike. The wolf jumped onto the monster's chest, knocking it over. It proceeded to savagely rip at the monstrosity's throat until the monster grabbed one of its legs and yanked, snapping it. The animal howled in pain and fell over sideways.

"BELTHEM!" the druid shouted in worry. The demon returned to its feet, but was met by an enraged druid. The druid snarled loudly and smashed his club violently into the thing's knees. Popping and creaking sounds met our ears followed by an outcry of pain as the monster fell forward, now unable to stand. As it fell, the druid savagely bashed it in the head repeatedly, caving in its skull and sending bits of bone and brains scattering everywhere. The druid wasted no time in rushing to his familiar's side like an idiot, ignoring the two hellish creatures behind him.

Apparently though, he didn't have to worry, the amazon acted as his avenging angel and hurled a javelin with such force and precision that it impaled one demon on its way strait through the other. I blinked. She just skewered them both together and they both fell over dead. That just left one demon. I laughed as the thing looked around itself, started shaking, then dropped its weapon and ran strait by me.

"No," I said sarcastically, "allow me." Without another thought I calmly walked after the cowardly demon. The amazon rushed quickly to my side.

"Piricus! Wait!" she insisted.

I rolled my eyes. "What is it now, amazon? I think I can handle this," I said snidely, "In fact--" I heard a loud crack as I stepped down and the amazon grabbed my wrist before the old, rotten floor gave way. I felt a vacuuming sensation and realized that I was falling. The amazon grabbed a panel in the floor with her free hand and for a moment we were dangling in the air.

The amazon grunted as she tried in vain to pull us back up. I heard the barbarian yell, but at this point it didn't matter. I must have been too heavy for her because my wrist slipped from her grasp and I resumed falling into the darkness below. I hissed in pain as I hit something solid and heard more cracking as I fell through yet another level of floor. All in all, I groaned each time as I fell through two more levels of floor. I looked down and I could see an earthy floor in the dim torchlight. That meant I was finally going to hit rock bottom and at the rate I was falling, it was going to hurt. A lot.

Instantly I did the only thing I could think of. I shot a bolt of energy and conjured a clay golem that lived all of five seconds before I fell on it, smashing into the wet clay. Luckily for me it broke my fall and I only felt a slight bump as if I'd fallen on a cushion.

I returned hastily to my feet just in time to hear the amazon yelling above me. Apparently, she must have fallen as well, because the sound was getting increasingly closer until I could make out a dark mass falling out of the shadows towards me.

I don't know what possessed me, perhaps it was the critical urge to keep her from falling on top of me, but I took a step back, held out my arms, and caught her as she fell directly into them. I exhaled sharply and struggled not to drop to my knees. I don't care what storybook you read, prince charming catching the distressed princess easily is a lie. People are heavy, especially the amazon whom was far from a delicate, dainty woman, she was nearly all muscle and was wearing armor. Though, to my credit, I didn't buckle like I expected. She looked up at me and for a moment we locked eyes before I dropped her unceremoniously onto her ass.

"Ow," she winced as she landed ungracefully. "Did you have to drop me?"

"You're heavy, woman. You might try losing some weight," I insulted. Well, that was partially the truth. She was heavy.

"Shut up, Piricus," she said irritably. "I--" she didn't finished her sentence because there came out of the shadows a band of hideous creatures that I was positive had to have once been human. I couldn't really see that much of them until they were not quite three feet in front of us. They looked like corrupted rogues, only their skin was blue. Somehow though, I knew that their corruption was not of Andariel's doing. Their torn and ratty clothes suggested that they were once maids, or ladies-in-waiting, and was an elaborate, regal style. If those garments were any indication, these demons had to have been here nearly two hundred and some odd years ago, that was when the last king ruled in this land to my knowledge. At any rate, it was well before the time of Andariel on this plane of existence.

I reached for my dagger, and the amazon her spear, and both of us realized with horror that we must have lost them somewhere along the way. I was calmed a little by the fact that I still had my magic, but I could see the tension in the amazon. She was practically defenseless. Nevertheless, she put on a brave face and took a fighting stance. We both prepared for the worst as they closed in, and both of us nearly fell over in shock as the encircled us with weapons, but did not strike. A particularly ugly demoness in a torn apron stepped forward, then spoke.

"Don't move," she croaked in a hoarse voice that was clearly no longer human.

The amazon and I both gave her mistrusting, quizzical looks. "So, you're not going to kill us?" the amazon asked bluntly.

"The mistress will see you. This way," the demon said flatly and went to grab my arm.

I jerked away swiftly and spit in her face. "Don't touch me, demon bitch. I swear by Trag 'Oul that I'm going to kill every one of you," I growled.

"Piricus!" the amazon hissed, "just do what they say, don't make them attack us!"

"You are smart, and beautiful. Maybe the mistress will share your blood with me," one purred as she tied the amazon's hands behind her back and another one bound me. Both of us flinched, clearly disgusted with the contact of demon hands to ours.

The moments that passed were tense, neither myself nor the amazon trusted our captors as far as I would trust a hungry tiger not to eat me. Worse still, we both knew that demons were fickle creatures and they could turn on us at any moment. Though, these demons seemed genuinely loyal to their mistress, they didn't touch us other than to prod us along. My guess was that their mistress was a strong demon, for demon hierarchy was nearly always dominated by fear. Demons don't have friendships or love. Some of them were just malignant presences and those had no feelings at all.

We strained our eyes as we walked silently through a series of dark corridors, the amazon more so than me. My eyes were well adjusted to the dark, I've spent most of my life in dark places. Though, to her credit, the amazon did have her inner sight, and I guessed she didn't like the idea of being blind, so she used it. Bright stars of light almost blinded me, but not just because of the stars. The stars lit up the area and as they did, they brightly refracted off metal. Gold metal. I blinked as I looked around myself. Everywhere in this room were monumental piles of gold coins, statues, multicolored gems and jewelry. Also strewn across the room were weapons, armor, and crates of ammunition, all of which looked to be of high quality. It was a room for kings, filled with riches that could buy a man his own city, a palace, an army and anything else he wanted for the rest of his life. I guess the rumor of treasure had been true after all. And not just this room, either. I looked into the hallways to my left and right and I could see glinting gold in the rooms at the ends.

I smirked. When we got out of this, it was definitely payday. Though, I wouldn't keep all of it, a majority of it would be going to replace the trade funds from my order that were lost in the shipwreck. But, getting out of this one was going to be tough. We had no weapons, a battalion of demons around us, and we had yet to meet their mistress, which I quickly deduced was none other than the infamous Countess herself. After all, the legend of gold had been true, so it was only natural that she should be real too. One thing bothered me slightly though. What had happened to all of the rogues that supposedly came down here before us? We hadn't seen any yet and they were conspicuously absent from this room as well. Perhaps they had died on some of the upper levels, after all I wouldn't know, I had just fallen down three Trag 'Oul forsaken pieces of rotten floor.

"Piricus," the amazon began with a grim look on her face.

"Silence!" the demon behind her hissed and pressed her spear to the back of the amazon's neck. The amazon hissed at the demon that shoved her forward.

Moments passed and there was still no sign of life, save the amazon's stars. I'm surprised that the demons didn't say, or do anything about them. But clearly she had seen something disturbing and she had attempted to tell me, but thanks to these damned demonesses she couldn't.

At last, we were shoved into a large, square room. There were two torches on either side of the room giving off a dim glow. At the far end of the room were two more demons, just shadows in the darkness, standing over a large basin. I heard a dripping sound and the movement of water. No, I thought solemnly. Not water. Blood. The smell of it was nearly strong enough to knock me over. And looking down, I knew why. Dead rogues covered the ground like grass, their white skin in stark contrast to the darkness. All looked as if they had died violent deaths, they had all died screaming from the looks of it. I noticed also that the ones around me had their throats slashed wide open, almost to the point of decapitation. I strained my eyes and in doing so, I could see what was making the dripping noise. Had I not been a necromancer used to blood and gore, this would have easily turned my stomach.

Two rogues were suspended on either side of the basin slanted at a downward angle, impaled on hooks right through the abdomen. Their guts had spilled all over the floor and some were dangling along with the bodies. And, like all the ones on the ground, these had their throats gutted. Blood was steadily dripping into the basin, the size of a large bathing pool. Then, I realized that's just exactly what it was, a bath tub. That, and there was a head poking out of the liquid, leaned against the side.

"On your knees," the demon behind me hissed before grabbing the back of my neck, digging her claws into my flesh and shoving me down onto my knees. The amazon suffered similar treatment.

"Mistress," one croaked. "We have guests."

The head turned toward us to reveal burning red eyes.

"Ah, guests. Excellent news. And here I was, about to run out of blood," she laughed maniacally and hoisted herself out of the pool of blood. Steam rose from the tub as she did so, evaporating the blood from her skin. I scowled. Just our luck, this homicidal bitch obviously had some type of control over fire.

The demoness sauntered towards us, making her old, rotting dress that she had been bathing in sway. I could tell that it had once been of grand design, and though it was far from it now, that it had once been pure white. There was no other explanation as to the stark, blood-red color it was now. The demoness reached us, and looked us over for a moment, assessing us. She looked us both in the eyes and laughed.

"So what do I owe this pleasure? Are you both here seeking my fortune, like all of these . . .unfortunate others?" she cackled. "You must be. There is no other explanation.

I locked my own eyes on hers and laughed too. "No, we came down here hell bent on kicking your ass and killing each and every one of you. However that was the group plan. MY plan was to kick your asses, take your bones, twist them around and have you and your witless hags follow me around like puppies while I curse your damned souls strait to hell. The treasure is just a plus."

The demoness got a very serious look on her face. "So, you've come to kill me and then take my treasure? Most simply come after the treasure, I am surprised that you have come seeking me. However, you'll find your chances futile, insolent mortal. Especially since you do not serve my purpose. Your blood is tainted," she hissed and then looked over to the amazon. "Ah, but your blood is pure. You will serve nicely for a rejuvenating bath," she purred and ran one finger under the amazon's chin, singeing the amazon's flesh along that line.

The amazon hissed at her, either in pain, or more likely, fury. "Dream on, demonic bitch! I'm going to send you to the hell you deserve!" she snarled.

The countess laughed. "An empty threat. Come my servants, bring her here."

The amazon looked at me out of the corner of her eye and gave me the slightest of nods. I looked down immediately and found that she had expertly maneuvered the ropes around her wrists and was almost free. I nodded back, smirking. The demons must not have been used to taking prisoners, their knots were sloppy. Either that, or the amazon was a woman of exceptional skill. I had to admit, in either case, she would serve a better purpose if she was free, whatever the reason behind it. At any rate, I quickly turned my attention to the ropes binding me. It would be a trivial thing at best to get out of them, the energy from my teeth spell would eat right through them. What was not going to be so trivial was trying to fight the Countess and her minions without weapons. But, I had an idea. Maybe we wouldn't have to. Trouble is, what I was planning on was extremely taxing and took an extreme amount of energy and focus. That, and it would only last for a couple of minutes. Oh well, it's a good idea nonetheless.

Two demonesses roughly grabbed the amazon's arms and pulled her none to gently to her feet and shoved her at the Countess. The once human demoness giggled with childlike joy.

"Care for a bloodbath? " she cooed. "Your death will be quick, I want to waste as little of your precious blood as possible. Goodbye, pure heart," she grinned and leaned toward the amazon with a long, ceremonial dagger in hand.

The warrior woman waited until the last possible second, until the demon was about a foot from her before she snarled the words,

"Eat this, bitch!" And in a move the barbarian would have been proud of, the amazon slammed her head right into the Countess' face. I heard a snapping sound and a howl of pain from the demon as the Countess stumbled backwards clutching her broken nose. The amazon wasted no time in smashing her entire body into the demon on her right as best she was able. The demoness only slightly faltered, but it was enough for the amazon to pull free. She yanked her right arm from her demonic captor and slammed her elbow into its face. The demon hissed and stumbled backwards, just as the demoness on her left grabbed a battle axe from her belt. The amazon aimed for her head too and punched her right between the eyes. The demoness coughed and leaned forward, enough for the amazon to knee her in the gut. The demon released her fully, dropping her axe as well. The amazon twirled around, bringing her leg with her and crashed the heel of her boot across the side of the demon's face. The she-devil flew a good ways into the air and landed unconscious on the ground with a loud thud. Another demon rushed her from behind, but I guessed the amazon's inner sight must have kicked in, because she turned, grabbed the demoness' arm and threw the monster over her shoulder forcibly onto the ground.

"NOW PIRICUS!" she shouted as she did a rolling dive onto the floor to avoid a blow, collecting the fallen demoness' axe as she went.

She didn't have to tell me twice. Quick as lightning I filled my body with energy, willing it to emanate from every pore. A powerful yellow-green light erupted all around me, blasting the demons holding me backwards and incinerating the ropes as I had anticipated. My two captors regained themselves and rushed simultaneously forward. I carefully gauged the distance and determined that the one to the left was gaining on me fastest, so I conjured a barb of energy and dispatched it at her. The amazon wasn't the only one who could hit a target with precision. My spell sliced cleanly through the demoness' neck, decapitating her.

The other one reached me just as I turned, which was just in time for me to grab her wrist and struggle to keep her axe from slicing me in half. I fought with the demoness for a moment before I fiercely slapped my palm into her gut at pointblank range and blasted another ball of necromantic energy strait through her. The demoness toppled over dead. That was two down--well, make that three, because the amazon had taken a spare moment to finish off the one she had knocked unconscious-- but we still had about ten demons and the Countess to go.

Speaking of the Countess, the enraged demoness had regained herself and was yelling out orders vehemently.

"KILL THE TAINTED ONE, BUT HER BLOOD IS MINE!" she raved.

"Damn," I cursed under my breath as all of the demons immediately turned their attention to me, including the ones that had been attacking the amazon.

"PIRICUS!" the amazon shouted in concern as six demons with melee weapons converged on me, and the remaining four, which I realized were archers, notched their bows.

"Worry about yourself amazon!" I called back as she turned just in time to parry the Countess'' dagger with her axe.

Four sets of arrows came spiraling after me and I did the first thing that came to mind, I didn't really have to think about it. I called forth the bones of the fallen demons and they rocketed at me. With one swift movement of my hand, I interlocked them and thrust them as a solid shield in front of me. I heard dull thudding noises and watched from behind my shield as the arrows fell the ground harmlessly. As the bones started to rotate around me protectively, I noted that several chips were flying as the demon women zealously hacked at them. I could see my enemies as a blur from between the waves of energy that held the bone shield together. I took careful aim and blasted a barbed energy ball into a demoness' face. She shrieked in pain and fell dead onto the floor. I bided my time until another such opportunity and repeated my previous action, killing another demon.

I scowled as the metal blade of an axe poked through my shield; it was beginning to give way. I looked over my shoulder. As much trouble as I was in, the amazon was in worse.

I watched as she and Countess exchanged blows. The amazon was doing some damage, but I could tell she could have been doing more, but her movements were awkward in fighting with an axe. As much damage as she was doing, the Countess was doing more. The Countess was bleeding, but not nearly as much as the amazon. What was worse, every time the amazon landed a blow, fire would burst out of that spot and burn either her armor, or her skin. I cringed for her as she swung ungracefully with her axe, missing the Countess entirely. The demon smiled with needle-sharp teeth and then sliced her dagger at the amazon's head. The amazon dodged fairly well given the circumstances, but the dagger still bit into her skin under her shoulder armor. Scarlet blood began to trail down her arm as she cried out in pain. She surprised me. Not unlike the barbarian would have done, she shook off the injury quickly and roared with rage and embedded her axe deep into the demoness' shoulder. The demon hissed, then grabbed the blade of the axe. Fire flew down the weapon, superheating it and causing the metal to melt. The amazon hastily released the weapon and looked desperately around the room for something else to fight with. The weapon she had been previously wielding melted into slag and the demon regained herself all the while, I had demons of my own to worry about.

The amazon locked eyes with me frantically, begging me to do something as plainly as if she'd said it out loud. Looking at her, something unfamiliar flashed through my mind. I felt . . Concern. Quickly as the odd sensation arose, it died. I don't think I was so much concerned about just her, as I was about both of us. I realized uncomfortably that I needed her in order to survive this. I growled in frustration, the thought of actually having to rely on someone else was revolting, but right now I had no choice. What I would do would buy us some time, but there was no way I'd be able to kill all of these demons by myself in time. I scowled sourly. I had killed seven elite assassins. How did I managed to become trapped by nine demons?

I guess it didn't matter. What mattered now was staying alive. At least it was her, I thought irately and not the paladin, because then we'd both die. We'd die before I'd help him out or let him help me. I rolled my eyes and sighed at the amazon. I folded my finger inwards, gesturing for her to get her ass over here right now.

She nodded at me and without a word she dashed toward me, doing a cartwheel out of the way of a swinging demon. She winced as she landed on her injured shoulder and almost fell.

"GET IN HERE AMAZON!" I hissed as the Countess quickly closed the gap behind her.

The amazon gritted her teeth and found her feet. Then, in an amazing display of acrobatics, she launched herself into the air and onto a demoness' shoulders, using them as a springboard to vault up and over my bone shield. Nimble as a cat, she landed next to me. She was so close in fact, I could smell the blood from her shoulder and the burns on her flesh.

"Thanks Piricus! I--" she began, but she stumbled forward, weak in the knees. She was losing a fair amount of blood.

Without really thinking, I reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her. "Damn it amazon, I'm not going to make a habit of catching you when you fall. Next time, you fall on your face. Stay on your feet if you want to live. Remember, I can use you if you die too," I shot at her and released her immediately.

"You didn't have to catch me if you didn't want to," she said quietly.

"I just need you to get out of this mess, dead, or alive," I grumbled.

"All the same, you could have left me to the Countess. Thank you, Piricus," she furthered.

"We're not out of this at all," I growled. "But when we make it out of here, you owe me big," I griped.

"Owe you for what? Sharing your personal space?" she shot back. " I saved your life twice, remember? Once from the carvers and once from the river demon on the amazon isles. If anything, you still owe me," she pointed out.

"Not killing you by now should payment enough. But fine, when we're out of this Trag 'Oul damned predicament, I'll be down one debt," I scowled at her.

"Fine," she said stubbornly. "WATCH OUT!" she yelped as flames shot strait through my bone shield between us. "What was that!? You call this a shield?!" the amazon snorted incredulously.

"If you're going to complain I'll throw your ass out of here in a second! My bone shield has cracks in it, in case you didn't notice. Technically this is all your fault. Think of it this was, if you'd been a little more promiscuous they wouldn't want your blood so badly _pure one_," I mocked using the Countess' words.

"Shut up, Piricus," she growled.

"Anyway," I said with a smirk, seeing her angry face, "I'm going to stir things up a little. The Countess is about to have a very bad day. Use this, because you're just plain pathetic with an axe, and wait until the Countess is dead to start striking. I'll deal with the melee group, you take out the archers," I commanded before conjuring a bone spear and handing it to her.

"Why? What's about to happen to the Countess?" she asked in interest.

"Do you think your friends are loyal to you?" I asked mischievously.

"Yes. Why?" she answered.

"Think twice about that," I said with a cruel laugh. "Stand back, I have to drop the shield in order to see," I said with a sadistic smile.

"Whatever you're going to do, make it fast. I've got an idea too that will help, but only if you keep those axe-swingers off me. It's an idea actually inspired by you," she said with a smile.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And what's that?"

"I can play with poison too. I still have these," the amazon grinned and pulled a magenta-colored flower with five petals out of a pouch at her waist.

"Felph flowers?" I asking in amusement. "Not a bad idea. Even I use those sometimes," I said, nodding my approval. "Just don't mess this up, or Felph flowers are going to be like daisies compared to some of the poison I can use on you."

"Glad you approve," she said with an indignant snort. " I've been holding onto these for an emergency and I think this qualifies. Hold your breath," she said with a wink and ran the center of the flower over the spearhead, shaking loose the toxic pollen.

"You hold yours, because here we go," I said and instantly dropped the shield and focused directly on the Countess. I pulled the energy for my curse quickly forward and cast it out through both hands. Blue-white energy flowed out of them in waves and onto the demons, even the archers, and absorbed into their skin. Almost immediately you could see the effects. Their eyes glazed over and for a moment they fell still.

The Countess, whom watched this sudden turn of events, whirled around and immediately began yelling in confusion. "SERVANTS! I ORDER YOU TO KILL THEM!" she bellowed.

I broke out laughing. "Sorry, under new management! Rathos delvos mirin vorth!" I shouted and a red glow enveloped the Countess. I raised both hands up, then smashed them together, unleashing the full fury of my curse. All eight of the remaining demonesses instantly turned on their former mistress, zealously hacking or firing with full battle rage. The hapless demon's eyes went wide as she began to shout frantically trying to get them to stop.

"STOP! I ORDER YOU TO STOP! FOOLS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP! I--AHHHHH!" she screeched in anguish as four axes embedded themselves into various parts of her body. The demons enclosed the Countess in a circle, raising axes high, obscuring my view. I heard the demon scream repeatedly as her own slaves hacked her to pieces and blood spilled all over the ground. I saw spurts of flame and saw the Countess' limbs thrash before her screams were finally silences with the thud of an axe. I readied myself, because we only had seconds before my Attract Curse wore off. Well, less than that. Seeing as how they no longer had a target, they reverted back to themselves.

"MISTRESS!" they yelled together in despair, before eight sets of angry eyes fixated on us. The amazon didn't waste another moment, she launched her bone spear directly into the chest of one of the archers, impaling her. The pollen on the projectile burst into a thick cloud upon impact. Unwittingly, all three of the remaining demons breathed in the poison and immediately began convulsing. They dropped their bows and fell to their knees, clutching at their throats. All three turned a pallid color, before their lungs seized up and they ceased to breathe permanently.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the amazon dart in that direction, but I had to focus on my opponents, not her. I conjured a fang of Trag 'Oul on my hand and fired it at the nearest demon. It hit her, directly in the chest, and ate through her and her comrade directly behind her. That just left two more, but I had a serious problem. The two golems I had conjured earlier, the Iron maiden curse, the bone shield, my Attract curse, and the thousand and one teeth spells I has cast in such a short period of time had all but nearly drained all of my spiritual energy. I realized grimly that I was down to fighting with my hands and feet. Well, not quite.

The Countess' sacrificial dagger was glistening on the floor about five feet away. Trouble was, the demons were about two. One swung, and I dove onto the floor to avoid it, rolling towards the dagger in the process. The other one hacked the ground where my legs had just been as I continued to roll. I reached out and grabbed the dagger and jumped hastily to my feet, just in time to lock blades with a demoness' axe. I looked down, and slammed a kick into the demon's knees and they buckled and she fell forward. She dropped her axe, but on the way down I grabbed her jet black hair, yanking her up and back.

"Have a taste of your own torture," I hissed and then mercilessly slit her throat. With that done, I turned around to face the other demon. Her axe was falling fast, too fast for me to dodge. I only had time to blink before the demon's eyes rolled back into her head and she fell forward with an arrow shaft sticking out the back of her neck.

"Are you alright Piricus?" the amazon called as she trotted to my side, a demon's bow in her hand.

"Fine. I could have handled that on my own," I pointed out grouchily.

The amazon rolled her piercing blue eyes. "Sure you could have. In fact this makes three--"

"Quiet!" I hissed and she and I whirled around, searching fir the source of the creaking noise we had just heard. It sounded like the squeaking of hinges, but I couldn't be sure, there were no doors around.

"Piricus look!" the amazon said suddenly and pointed to a large, wooden chest at the back of the room that in my haste I had failed to notice. Sure enough, it was opening by itself, with a milky white mist issuing forth around the edges. We both eyed the thing mistrustingly and took battle stances.

The chest slowly and noisily creaked open and mist fountained into the air, followed immediately by a heap of objects, including a crystal sword, a jeweled dagger, a helmet shaped like a falcon's head, a wand with a pristine skull at the end, and a jewel-encrusted, two-handed battle axe. Just when we thought the chest was done, glittering, glinting gold spewed forth in jets and landed on the old cellar floor with a clang. When it finally stopped and everything fell silent, a monumental pile of treasure lie on the floor in front of me and the amazon.

She blinked. "By Zerae! Look at all of this! This is amazing! This sword," she said, reaching to pick up the sparkling weapon at her feet, "is pure crystal! And It has nearly flawless balance and razor-sharp edges. It's actually functional as well as extravagant," she remarked twirling it around in her hand and slicing air with it.

"Tsh. A sword is the best thing you want out of all of this? I'm sure hope you're better with that than an axe. Even my skeletons are better with them than you are, and they have no intelligence at all unless I'm directly controlling them," I scoffed, but then I walked over to the pile myself. I already knew what I wanted. That wand was obviously made for a necromancer, and that dagger didn't look bad either.

"Hmm. Treasure hunting? Treasure finding, yes," I mumbled to myself as I picked them up and tucked them into my belt.

"What are we going to do about all of this gold?" the amazon asked, looking around in amazement.

"Spend it. That's what it's for. Did you really have to ask, idiot? If I were you, I'd invest in some new armor. Yours is a bit burned, and maybe, if you'd actually thought about wearing some actual metal over your arms, you wouldn't have been the Countess' pin-cushion," I pointed out snidely.

The amazon sighed and gingerly rotated her injured shoulder. Luckily for her it seemed to have stopped bleeding seriously. It was just dripping minimally now. "You're right, new armor is a good idea, but, what I meant," she said, giving me a glare, "is how in heaven are we going to get all of this back to the encampment, or better still, how are we going to carry it all?" she asked dubiously.

"Hmm. Good question. I think we should--" I was interrupted by the sounds of movement in the next room. I yanked my new dagger from the sheath and the amazon steadied her sword.

"Hang on," she ushered quietly and closed her eyes. Moments later the stars of her inner sight lit the area. I blinked. Was it just me, or were there twice as many of them as before?

The amazon seemed unsure for a moment, then she smiled. "It's alright Piricus," she assured, just as the form of the paladin surfaced in the doorway with the rogue beside him. It was obvious that she had cast her own inner sight.

"Chyemme! Piricus! Are you two alright? My God, we looked everywhere!" the paladin called in concern.

"Is it them?" the voice of the sorceress asked from the next room.

"Yes, it's them," the rogue answered.

"Good, I was seriously--what the hell happened in here!?" the sorceress asked in horror as she surfaced in the doorway and looked around. Oh my God, are those rogues on those-- is that blood in that tub!?" she cried in alarm.

"You are not so astute as usual. You honestly have to ask with this overwhelming smell? Is your nose broken? Though I have to say, it would be an improvement in your appearance sorceress," I taunted.

"Laurella go wait in the room," the paladin said quietly.

"Isn't it a little late for that paladin? She's only seen everything in this room," I said snidely.

"It's . . .it's okay," the rogue said weakly.

"Not it's not. Wait inside," the assassin said grimly as she walked into the room.

"Wow . . .it was massacre in here," the warrior said quietly. "Come on Laurella, I'll wait with you," he offered kindly.

I could see tears in the eyes of the rogue. My guess was that a few of the mutilated dead must have been her friends.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Laurella," the amazon said sympathetically. "But rest assured, we avenged them. The evil Countess and all her minions are dead," she consoled.

"Thank you," the rogue said quietly and painfully and left the room with the warrior.

"Here, we found these on r' way down. We found yur shield, Chyemme, and yur javelins, but we didn' find yur spear," the barbarian said as he walked over to the amazon and handed them to her.

"Thanks Alminus," she said truthfully.

"Bly me! You're a real mess. Ey' Scorpious, maybe ya should come over here and take a look. Chyemme's a little banged up," he announced.

"Of course. Let me see," the paladin said calmly and walked to her side. He frowned as he looked her over. "That's a nasty wound, but I can fix it. Don't worry, it'll be good as new in a minute," he comforted.

"Thanks Scorpious," she said in gratitude.

"We also found this," the sorceress said with a scowl. "It's yours jackass, though I don't know what you're going to do with it, it's cracked severely," she said in distain and tossed me my bone wand that was in absolutely pitiful shape.

"Tha's the Countess? Wow, she look li' she's been in 'n axe fight and lost. Good axemanship Whi' one of ya did that?" the barbarian said in admiration. "Was it you, Chyemme?"

The amazon got a grave look on her face. "No, Alminus. I didn't do that," she said quietly.

The gargantuan man then turned to me. "So ya did tha' Piricus? I never woulda thought," he said in disbelief.

"Do I look like someone that favors brute force, you oaf?" I sneered. "But I did have a hand in her death, well, more like two if you want to be technical."

"Just tell us what happened, jackass," the sorceress said in irritation.

The amazon started to say something, but I interrupted her. Locking my eyes on the amazon I laughed cruelly. "The amazon just learned a lesson about loyalty and how easily it's corrupted," I said sadistically.

"Her own minions killed her. You used and Attract Curse," the assassin growled in disgust,

"A fitting end, I think. You remember this assassin, next time you become attached to someone," I said, smirking.

"You're sick!" the sorceress hissed.

I snorted. "I'm sick? Look around yourself, sorceress. I didn't hand those rogues up there like curtains or maim the ones on the floor. That's sick, killing them then using their blood as a swimming pool. Don't tell me you feel sorry for her, you sad excuse for a mage?" I said plainly.

The sorceress hissed at me loudly. "Why the hell do you always make it out of these things alive? Sanctuary would be a much better place without you."

"Careful, that's exactly assassin rationale," I said with a disturbing smile.

"Shut up, Piricus, you have no idea what you're talking about. You know nothing about the Viz-Jaq'taar," the assassin said coldly.

I put a dangerous look in my eyes. "I know more than you think, assassin."

"That's enough. I don't like what you did one iota, I find it absolutely revolting, but the main point is that you and Chyemme are safe," the paladin interrupted.

"Paladin, you never cease to amaze me with how thickheaded you are. I thought by now it would have sunk in that I don't give a damn what you think," I said snidely.

"Piricus, if you are allowed to speak your peace, then so am I. Though, silence is a golden virtue," he replied, the closest thing to a comeback I had heard him use since I met him.

"Is that another pile of gold?" the deep voice of the sorcerer asked, eyeing the heap of gold and objects beside us.

"Are you blind?" I said rolling my eyes. "Between your eyes and the sorceress' nose, you two make a pathetic pair. Of course it is."

"Another one?" came the voice of the druid. "There's enough treasure in this cellar to make a man an emperor!"

"What are we going to do with it?" the barbarian as he walked over and examined the battleaxe. "This is nice," he added looking it over.

"Well, we--" the paladin began.

"Paladin, we are not giving this money to charity! We cleared this damn tower, this is ours! Technically I killed the Countess, so this should be mine!" I insisted sourly.

The paladin looked up from tending the amazon's shoulder to look at me skeptically. "What would you do with all of this gold?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'd use it to turn my order into an army for destroying paladins," I supplied quickly, though I frowned. Truth was, I had no idea what I'd do with the money.

The paladin frowned too, before he turned back to focusing on the amazon's arm. He continued to speak though. "If you would have let me finish Piricus, I would have said we all should take a share of this treasure, I'm sure the rogues would be more than happy to agree. You may think of it as a reward for your actions, and you do what you want with your money. As for me, my service requires no reward, and I took a vow of poverty, so I'm going to give my share back to the rogues. Speaking of the rogues, we were going to inform them that the tower is now safe, and they can come collect and move the gold and bury their dead. Since no one needs, or can carry a mound of gold, we are giving the rest of this treasure to the rogues to repay their hospitality and to help them rebuild their monastery when this is over," the paladin informed.

I started to protest, but the amazon interrupted me. "Don't worry Piricus. You'll get your money and I'm sure it will be much more than you think--thanks again Scorpious, that's a ton better," she supplied.

"Don't mention it," the paladin said with a smile.

"Is that a falcon helm?' the druid exclaimed in surprise as he surveyed the treasure. He walked over and picked it up. "I haven't seen one of these since Scosglen. Can I have it?" he asked as his raven swooped down onto his shoulder.

"Go for it," the amazon assured.

The sorceress shuddered. "Now that that's settled, we should get out of here. This place is awful," she said bluntly.

"You go ahead, I'll catch up," the paladin replied. "I'm going to stay for a moment and try to sooth the spirits of the dead. I'm going to pray some for them. That, and I'm going to take them down, so the rogues don't have to," he said grimly, gesturing to the rogues on the hooks.

"Suit yourself," the sorceress said with a shiver and took the lead to guide us back into daylight.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Hey everybody, sorry this took so long to get written and posted, school has become my life. I'm a slave to my books. Anyway, I have more free time to write now, so enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2. Blizzard entertainment does.

Through Hell for a Hammer

Chyemme

"Yeties? You were fighting yeties topless in the snow?" Vendra snorted in amusement.

Ryelass laughed. "Well, it's not like we really had a choice. There were two other people with us and they were both wounded. We'd never leave them behind and we couldn't carry them, we were carrying enough supplies for a small army as it was. So we had no choice but to use our shirts and all the blankets we had to make stretchers for them," he explained.

"If you're so tough and strong, especially you, barbarian, then why can't you have carried them AND supplies?" Piricus responded rudely.

"Well, I suppose only because we had to use our bodies to fight with," Ryelass snapped. "These are yeties we're talking about. They're about twice the size of Alminus," he began.

"And jus' as strong as me ter, if not more," Alminus agreed. "It's kinder difficult to fend of something li' that, wield a weapon, carry supplies, and protect somebody else at the same time," my barbarian friend retorted.

"I would like to see you try to do that, jackass," Vendra growled at Piricus.

"You forget, sorceress, I will always have more than two people to fight for me," he laughed.

"Well, I am impressed with your tale," Cloudyous remarked sincerely. "I know much about yeties, and if what you say is true, that was no small feat of survival."

"I agree. I've heard tales from some of my sisters who have traveled to the northlands," Laurella agreed.

"What did the leader of the Bear Tribe say when you arrived?" I asked in interest.

"Well, the barbarian tribes aren't really run by one person, Chyemme, but they were all really impressed once they finally let us past the gates," Ryelass answered.

"What you mean, finally?" Sovellis asked with a grin. He too had been enthralled by the story.

"Well," Alminus said with a smile at the memory, "they thought we were yeties at first," he continued. "Almost shot the blazes outta us."

"Why?" Vendra asked.

"Sorceress, for once, use your head. Wait-- never mind. If you use it, your head might fall off like a weight atop a rotting foundation for lack of use," Piricus said snidely.

"Isn't it past your bedtime, jackass?" Vendra spat at him in annoyance.

"I don't sleep until _she_ does," Piricus said icily, looking directly at Maria. "Oh, wait," he added sarcastically, "now that I have a guardian angel to keep people from killing me, I don't have to worry," Piricus growled and looked at Scorpious scathingly.

"I'm not an angel in the slightest," Scorpious said plainly.

"Liar. Everyone here besides me thinks you're a godsend. What a joke," Piricus scowled.

"We are blessed to have him with us," Laurella said shyly.

"Yes, he fight and heal well. I never see conviction like this before," Sovellis said, lending support to Laurella.

"See. That's exactly what I mean. You're all pathetic. Am I the only one who's seen conviction turn into stupid, reckless, and demented zeal?" he said with a contemptuous glance around at all of us.

"No, you're not, "Maria said quietly, "but I believe in the new order of Zakarum, they are far from the fanatical zealots of the past, I've never heard of them acting in an uncouth manner, and no one I know has ever had to put one down," she said strongly.

Piricus snickered. "And why do you suppose that is? Oh wait, I forgot, thoughtfulness is a quality that has avoided this group like the plague. So I'll be blunt and help the rest of you out. Try, because they've only been around for what, three years now? Is that right, paladin?" he asked hatefully.

"Yes you are correct, Piricus," Scorpious said plainly.

"Change has got to begin somewhere. Somewhere and sometime. Anything great or small always has a beginning," I reminded.

"Religion is a farce that only leads to destruction. That's why the priests of Rathma have no gods or goddesses. The closest thing we have to a deity is Trag 'Oul the great dragon on whom the world resides. Because of this, I'll be the last one that remains uncorrupted, you mark my words. Faith is illusionary paladin. There is no God to hear you," Piricus told all of us icily.

"I say we put that ter a vote," Alminus said with a laugh. "Even us Barbarians believe in one supreme God."

"I believe, as usual, Piricus, you have succeeded in throwing us off task and rudely interrupted the story," Cloudyous growled irritably.

"It's a gift," Piricus said with a sadistic smile.

"You were saying?" Cloudyous said politely to Alminus.

"Yeah, they almost shot us righ' off'a the ground, because--" he began.

"Because you were wearing the yeties' hides," Maria said plainly.

"Well, that would explain it," Laurella said with a smile.

"They might not have succeeded, even if they did shoot you," Cloudyous said knowingly "You found out first hand that yeties have hides of iron," he pointed out.

"Li' I said, it was tough," Alminus said simply.

"That one reason I like magic," Sovellis began, "It bring down foes that not susceptible to force of steel."

"Yeah," Vendra said proudly. "Yeties may be immune to cold, but I'd like to see them hold out against fire. Iron-like or not, fur still burns."

"You make it sound so easy," Maria said in slight irritation. "You seem to be forgetting that some creatures are immune to magic."

"I didn't forget," Vendra snapped. "Despite what you may think, I know quite a lot about nature and what my magic will or won't work on," she growled.

Piricus clapped sarcastically. "Impressive, sorceress. You know so much that you were completely oblivious about ghosts and almost died from your ignorance this morning."

"They did know," I corrected, giving him a glare. "They knew what wraiths were."

"It didn't help them much," he said snidely. "Just look at the sorcerer's leg," he pointed out, drawing our attention to the bandages around Sovellis' shin, which covered the bite wound he had received earlier.

"This nothing," Sovellis said defensively.

"He's right. The wraiths gave more than just them trouble. One almost got me too," I said lending them support.

"That's not saying much for you, amazon. I killed the one after me without getting a scratch," he said rudely.

"Well not all of us can conjure mindless minions," Ryelass growled.

Piricus laughed. "It's a handy little talent, it tends to save your life when everybody else around you is dying. My minions are completely loyal," he snickered, "they'd die for me without a thought."

"They don't have one to give, or did you not catch it when Ryelass said the word "mindless", jackass?" Vendra snorted.

"They die because you order them to. They're not alive, and you control their every move. They're disposable, so your comment about them being absolutely loyal to you is worthless, Piricus," Cloudyous began. "The word loyalty begins to really have meaning when creatures or people follow you of their own free will. Any mage could animate a rock and tell it to die for them. Not everyone, however, has something intelligible that is willing to sacrifice everything for them. When someone dies or gets injured to keep you from harm," he began.

"Or got yur back in a fight no matter wha' the odds," Alminus added, putting his hand on Ryelass' shoulder.

"Or is there for you when no one else is," Laurella continued.

"Or can forgive you no matter what you've done, " I furthered.

Cloudyous nodded. "That, is true loyalty," he said, scratching Belthem's ears.

"That's so fluffy it's disgusting," Piricus growled.

"Let me see. There a better way to put it," Sovellis said with a smile.

"Yeah, they're called friends, jackass, and it's obvious that you don't have any," Vendra growled.

"There, you'd be very wrong, sorceress," Piricus said with a laugh.

"Who could ever like _you?_ You don't give a rat's ass about anyone but yourself," she continued.

"That's not true," I blurted.

Piricus' eyes narrowed and he got a nasty look on his face. "Yes it is," he said coldly.

Vendra blinked and looked from me to him. "What the hell? Chyemme are you defending him?" she asked incredulously. "The man's a total asshole! Oh wait--do you guys have some sort of thing together!?" she questioned rudely.

I laughed. "Vendra, have you lost your mind?"

"She never had one to begin with," Piricus snapped.

"I only said that because he saved me from the Countess earlier today. Without him, I'd be dead," I admitted truthfully.

Sovellis snorted. "He save you? Now I hear everything!"

"I think I almos' had a heart attack there," Alminus agreed with a laugh.

Maria has an amused look on her face. "Oh, I wouldn't hail him as a savior, Chyemme. Odds are, he couldn't get out of things by himself and that's why he needed you. Isn't that right, Piricus?"

Piricus gave her a glare that would have scared an emotionless zombie away.

"There you have it," she smirked.

"Well, even if that was the case, the fact that he still saved me is true," I continued.

"Didn't you say something about you rescuing him when we all first met?" Cloudyous asked, reminiscing. "If that's the case, the two of you should be even now."

"Not quite. I saved him twice," I said, looking at Piricus and smiling. He scowled at me and muttered something inaudible under his breath.

"Twice? Who would intentionally save such a wretch twice?" Ryelass said indignantly.

"You should have been a paladin, Chyemme. You sure act like one sometimes," Vendra said in amazement.

Scorpious chuckled. "I think you would make a fine paladin, Chyemme."

I blushed. I held Scorpious in such high esteem that it was a definite honor that those around me considered my actions to be just like his. "Thank you," I said in earnest.

Piricus scoffed. "The world doesn't need anymore self-righteous zealots. Don't let him corrupt you amazon, or I'll have to kill you too."

"I think you couldn't kill one of us, even if you tried," Vendra retorted.

"And, once again, you'd be wrong," Piricus said flatly. "Don't take my powers so lightly, dimwit. I've still got a lot up my sleeve that you haven't seen."

"And none of us want to see it unless it becomes absolutely necessary," Scorpious interjected.

Piricus' eyes narrowed. "Are you afraid, paladin?"

Scorpious locked his righteous brown eyes on Piricus' emerald greens. "I will never fear the darkness, because I always walk with the light. I have no desire to bear witness to any more undead than is absolutely needed. There is nothing good or righteous about defiling the bodies of the deceased or binding and twisting souls from the nether that should be resting in peace."

Piricus scowled. "You know what? I don't think you respect me, paladin. And that's a very big mistake."

"I respect you as a person with your own free will. I don't respect the choices that you've made with it," Scorpious admitted.

"I think a little bit of fear is healthy. Looks like I'm going to have to put it into you," Piricus said dangerously.

"Not here you're not," I interrupted. "Demons are lurking about, and Scorpious has given you no grounds to attack him."

Piricus turned to look at me with a nasty expression. "What he is, is reason enough for me. And you, amazon, don't have the authority to order me around. I may be in your debt, but if you continue to get in my way, I'll conviently forget that fact and put you in your place."

"If you want to fight, I'll fight you," I said bluntly.

Piricus raised an eyebrow then burst out laughing. "You? Fight me? Do you even remember what I did to you last time?"

"Despite what you think, I respect you. I'll be on my guard this time," I assured.

"Please don't. All of you. We're going to need everybody at their best when we enter the monastery and face my fallen sisters tomorrow," Laurella pleaded, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"She's righ'," Alminus agreed.

"That she is. Let us rest now and put an end to this argument," Scorpious consented. "Speaking of which, since, for safety reasons we can't all sleep at once, I've devised a watch schedule. We'll take shifts in pairs. Cloudyous and I will take the first watch. Sovellis and Vendra will be next, then Alminus and Ryelass. Then Chyemme and Piricus, and last will be Laurella and Maria. Any questions?"

"How long do the shifts last?" Ryelass asked.

"About one and a half hours," Scorpious announced. "That leaves plenty of time to rest for everyone, given by my judgment that it is the eleventh hour already."

"Sounds good," Alminus offered, yawning. It took a few moments, but eventually everyone got themselves situated and we all headed to rest without any more talk. It took me a while to get to sleep, I don't know why. Maybe it was the aspect of being in a foreign land with hideous monsters lurking about, but more likely it was the disgusting squishing feeling of the damp, mushy earth underneath my mat. Unfortunately, it was as Scorpious had said earlier, we simply couldn't make it through the Black Marsh in one day, especially not with the tower detour we had taken. And, much to Vendra's loathing, we couldn't exactly find a patch of ground that was high and dry completely. Oh well. My guess was that I was going to have to endure worse before this was over.

It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I felt someone shake me gently. It was Ryelass.

"Wake up, Chyemme," he said politely.

I groaned. "Is it that time already?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, it goes by fast," my warrior friend assured. I sat up and stretched my arms, looking over to where Alminus had leaned over to wake Piricus.

"Don't touch me barbarian, or I'll rip your arms off," Piricus snapped without opening his eyes.

"What's the matter Piricus? Couldn't sleep?" Ryelass spat with contempt.

"Warrior, unlike some, I find it difficult not to wake up when something moves in close proximity to me, and especially when you talk so loud you might as well be shouting," he griped grouchily.

"Shut yur gripin' and jus' get up already," Alminus growled irritably. Thank God ya've got Chyemme with ya or none of us would sleep," he furthered.

Piricus mumbled something I couldn't hear. Then gracefully found his feet. I walked over to the fallen log by our small fire and sat down, I was joined by Piricus moments later.

"Goodnight, Chyemme," Ryelass said with a smile.

"Rest well," I assured and soon he and Alminus were fast asleep. Alminus for sure, I laughed to myself. He was snoring loudly.

Piricus looked at the large man scathingly and wrinkled his nose, before he set his gaze on me. For a moment, we just stared at each other, until at last his icy eyes got the better of me and I looked away. I looked around instead, scanning what little I could see and peering into the darkness beyond. Everything appeared quiet, calm, and still. It was just an ordinary night. Satisfied, I took to watching the steadily burning fire. The warmth was inviting, it was making me sleepy as I watched shadows dance in and out of the flame.

"Wake up, amazon," Piricus said coldly noticing my eyes as they began to droop. "I might as well have brought a corpse to guard duty with me, they'd be more lively than you and in my hands, more useful too."

I stood up and stretched. "I'm sorry Piricus, you're right. I guess my fight with the countess took a lot out of me," I apologized.

"Amazon if that's all it takes to best you, you'll likely die tomorrow, in fact you--" he stopped mid-sentence and sprang to his feet, just as I reached for my javelin, he conjured a ball of energy and both of us fired at once in the direction of the sound.

Piricus' energy bolt lit the way and cast a shine off my javelin as it twirled right into the breast of an approaching blood hawk. The creature died with a loud squawk and that's when I noticed the many, cloud-like shadows circling us like vultures from above.

"Blood Hawks! How the hell did they sneak up on us like this?!" I yelped as my eyes registered another shadow diving out of the blackness aimed at Laurella's sleeping face. I grabbed another javelin and flung it swift as I could at the blur. I hit my mark and the demonic bird landed with a heavy thud right on Laurella's chest. The flame-haired rogue awoke with a start, flailing around madly, obviously a little dazed and confused.

"WHAT"S GOING ON?!" she yelped, I observed with horror that she had just enough time to shield her face before another hawk, obviously sensing her disorientation and hell bent on claiming her life dived for her from the heavens.

"WATCH OUT LAURELLA!" was all I had time to shout, the creature was just moving too fast for me to react. Not to mention, I soon had another problem of my own. More birds were descending from the sky like feathery nightmares aimed at me, Piricus, and now at several members of our sleeping party. I threw a javelin, which I knew was not going to hit before the bird struck her, but I had to do something. I watched in horror as another black blur dived for Laurella. But, much to my surprise, the second blur collided with the first and gave a hearty, shrill cry. I realized then, much to my relief, that it Bibo, the clever bird had jumped in just in time to save Laurella's life.

That still left one problem though. My speeding javelin wasn't going to distinguish friend from foe and it looked as if it was going to hit Bibo and the blood hawk. I cringed, but didn't have time to look, one of the demons flew at my face from the sky. I grabbed another javelin and swung it up fiercely, batting the monster away from my face. I saw Piricus scowl and have just enough time to duck before the monster raked it's talons in the air where his head had been just moments before.

"WAKE UP! EVERYONE WAKE UP!" I shouted as loud as I could, trying to bring everyone to attention.

I heard a loud cry and looked over. A blood hawk with it's scarlet feathers gleaming in the firelight, had dove for Maria's face and in a lightening motion just as fast as the bird, she reached up and grabbed the thing around the talons, shoving back as hard as she could, so that the bird snapped air instead of her face with its razor sharp beak. She twisted with unnatural agility from where she lay on the ground and flung her attacker sideways. She didn't waste any time in springing to her feet and grabbing her katars, because the bird didn't waste any time in refolding and attacking her again. This time however, the creature flew headlong into and arching slice that severed it's left from it's right, killing it instantly.

I heard a short bark and watched to my relief as Belthem, with his white-silver fur gleaming as a contrast to the darkness, jumped into the air and caught my javelin, saving Bibo from its path. He spit it roughly to the ground and then launched himself at a demonic bird that was moving to attack Cloudyous, whom had awoken with a start and was scrambling to his feet. I saw Belthem's gleaming teeth rip into a red animal and heard a sickening sound as blood began to cascade onto the ground.

A loud screech hurt my ears as not one, but two of the red devils dived at me. I stabbed at one, just missing it, but halted its progress as it flew back into the sky to avoid my strike, then brought the butt of my weapon up on the other side, smacking a demon square under the throat and stunning it. The creature was within arm's reach so I grabbed one of it's legs, tossed it to the ground and then ran it through. I looked up and the other bird has circled back around, driven into a frenzy by the dying sounds of its comrade. I brought my spear up, but winced as I did so, the angle rotated the part of my shoulder where the countess had stabbed me earlier and brought a fresh surge of pain. My inner sight told me to duck, just moments before Sovellis told me, and I dropped to the ground just in time for a fireball to go careening over my head and smash into the attacking blood hawk and igniting a blaze. The light from this small fire added to the light from the campfire lit up our immediate area just enough to let us see what we were dealing with. There were four more blood hawks plus the two that Cloudyous' animal companions were battling.

I figured I didn't have to worry about Belthem, he had his hawk as pretty much a dead piece of meat in his mouth. Bibo, on the other hand was a mass of black feathers against red, both birds were viciously using talons and beaks to rip into each other and there was blood dripping onto the ground, though I couldn't tell from whom. It didn't matter, because as soon as Laurella had regained enough sense to grab her weapon, she took aim and expertly fired into the midst of the battling birds, striking the Blood Hawk in the chest with amazing skill. I don't think I could have done a better job myself, and this gave Bibo All the leverage she needed to clamp her beak into the blood hawk's throat and rip it out savagely.

By this time, Scorpious had gotten to his feet and he did a jumping roll to the side to avoid a creature's talons. He stood up, stood still and waited for the last moment right before the creature would have struck at him a second time and yielded to the side with amazing speed, swinging his sword, which caught the creature right into one of the edges of his blade and killed it on the spot.

Ryelass, as always, amazed me with just how fast and well balanced he was. He rolled up and onto his feet gracefully and with plenty of speed, grabbed a knife from his boot and hurled it at the hawk, catching it in the wing. The creature faltered in the air and I seized that opportunity to finish it off with one of my javelins.

"Thanks, Chyemme!" Ryelass called in gratitude.

"Your welcome! Are you--"

"Pay attention, amazon!" Piricus shouted as a bird flew strait past me on it's way to him. Piricus conjured an energy ball and launched it, but it missed, sailing right past it and nearly into me. I hit the floor as fast as I could, it was a good thing that he had just called me to attention.

"Watch what you're doing, jackass! You nearly hit Chyemme!" I heard Vendra yell from somewhere to my right. "This is how you hit something with magic!" she bellowed and in a spark of lighting, the creature attacking him fried to a crisp.

"Really? Cause you're about to get your head ripped off sorceress!" Piricus shouted back sourly and without so much as a warning, he launched another teeth spell insanely fast that whizzed right by Vendra and actually cut a thin line on her cheek on it's way into a Blood Hawk that was flying at her from behind. As it died a violent death, the area fell silent, save for Vendra's enraged shouting.

"YOU JACKASS! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME! WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING! I OUGHT TO BLAST YOU INTO A THOUSAND PIECES, STRIKE AT ME WHY DON'T YOU--" she shouted vehemently, rubbing he blood off of her injured cheek with the back of her hand.

"Well, you shouldn't be standing in the way of my attacks, sorceress," he said coldly.

"Stop," Sovellis said putting a hand out in front of her chest to quiet her. "He not dare kill you. I surprised, but he actually just help you." he said quietly in shock.

"HELP ME?! THE HELL HE DID. HE JUST HURT ME! SOMEONE ELSE COULD HAVE DONE THE SAME WITHOUT HURTING ME!" She screeched.

"I'd be pissed if I was her too. I don't have a care in the world that it might have hit her," Piricus said flatly.

"So what are you saying? That you were trying to kill her and make it look like an accident?" Ryelass hissed reaching for his sword.

"Calm down, Ryelass," Scorpious said firmly. "He wasn't trying anything other than to end this fight. He knew what he was doing, though I am sure his statement about not caring for her safety is not a lie."

"What did I tell you about getting in my way?" Ryelass hissed, turning to him. About this time, Alminus walked over and roughly yanked Ryelass' weapon out of the sheath and took it away from him.

"He's righ'. Calm down. He's jus' tryin' to get a rise outta ya like usual," Alminus said disapprovingly.

"I can't believe you Alminus! Give that back!" he growled reaching for his sword, which Alminus promptly raised out of his reach.

"Nobody died, and the only injury we have is Vendra's cheek. I say things could have been a lot worse," Maria said calmly.

"Well, there's Bibo too," Laurella said quietly, walking up with the raven perched up on her arm. True enough, there was blood dripping from an area on beside her beak and on one of her legs. "Scorpious can you please heal her?" Laurella asked sincerely. "She saved my life just now."

"He doesn't need to. I can wrap those up no problem, they're just scratches," Cloudyous said reassuringly. "Come here, Bibo," he requested politely.

The raven gave Laurella's ear an affectionate nip before flying over and landing on Cloudyous' forearm.

"Tell her I said thank you from the bottom of my heart," Laurella said turning to him.

"She already knows. She just continues to surprise me . . .I've never seen her protect anyone but me like that before. I must say, I am most interested to hear Lord Cain's story about her . . ." Cloudyous trailed off, apparently lost in thought. Bibo chirped at him, catching his attention.

"I know it's uncomfortable, but what did you expect? You exerted yourself big time. That guy was twice your size," Cloudyous reprimanded gently.

"Well, I'm grateful that she did," Laurella said in earnest.

"Well all are, well all but one of us," Vendra hissed, still seething.

"You're right. I couldn't care less," Piricus said icily and I saw something almost like tears in Laurella's eyes.

"I think you do care. You just won't admit it," I said giving him a reproachful look.

"Amazon, your touchy-feely approach to me is just not working," he said, glowering.

"Whether you care or not makes no difference, her life wasn't up to you. I am truly amazed with God's creatures sometimes. I am relieved this is over for now, but I know we are far from safe. Cloudyous, did you not say earlier that Blood Hawks always travel in flocks? And that they always have a nest?" Scorpious reiterated.

Cloudyous nodded solemnly. "I did. It looks like we've pretty much wiped out this group, but this wasn't the Alpha flock. Maybe a side group, because it was so small. There's no way that we've wiped out the Matriarch. And she never strays from the nest save to feed. Believe me, we'd know if we had found the nest."

"That's a cheerful thought," Vendra said sarcastically. "Well, what now?"

"We cannot stay here. The smell of fresh blood is bound to bring natural predators or even worse and far more likely, other demons to this area. We need to pack and leave immediately," Scorpious said sagely.

"But where are we going to go? It's still dark, we can't see where we're going?" I asked. "I mean, if it really comes down to it, I can use my inner sight," I offered.

"It's alright, Chyemme. I know this land well, it has been my home since I was born. I know enough of the layout to get us safely into the Tamoe Highlands. But I would like it if you walked up front with me. Between the two of us, we should be able to see things coming far before they arrive," Laurella requested.

"It'd be my pleasure," I assured and with that settled we quickly took to packing up. It didn't take long for us to be on the move again, within minutes we were heading into the darkness of the marsh. Maria, whom had excellent night vision, had joined us at the front and was scanning the area for traps. I heard a chirp from behind us and a ruffle of feathers. I saw a black shape fly overhead, but I wasn't concerned.

"Bibo says she's going to fly ahead of us, her night vision is next to perfect so she'll let us know if anything is coming," Cloudyous assured.

"Good. I hate the feeling of wanderin' around blind," Alminus said uneasily.

Not long after she left, Bibo came flying back to us, she hastily landed on Cloudyous' arm and locked eyes with him. From what I could see of him in the dark, Cloudyous had a grim look on his face.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked in concern.

"She says she found the nest. It's due North of here, right where we need to go. She says there are about thirty blood hawks just flying around idly, but she thinks there are a ton more in the nest itself," he informed.

"Lovely. Is there ever a time where your animals bring us good news, druid?" Piricus asked grouchily from behind me.

"Better that she should tell us ahead of time than for us to walk in there at the last minute and be caught completely unaware," Cloudyous said truthfully.

"Definitely true. So what do we do now?" Laurella asked.

"We have to take out the nest first, or there will just be a ton more of them right on top of us," I answered.

"What about the ones guarding the nest? We can't just ignore them and by the time we finish with them they'll have alerted the others," Maria pointed out.

"We can fix," Sovellis assured, nudging Vendra.

"Yeah. We can call a blizzard or a thunderstorm down like we did in Tristram, that would take care of all the ones outside and probably the nest too," Vendra assured.

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy," Cloudyous said grimly. "Blood Hawk nests are extremely resilient to the elements and the force of steel. The only weakness I know of is actually inside the nest."

"Then, we just need to draw them all out into the open," Scorpious deduced.

"Does nobody but me listen?" Piricus growled. "Didn't the druid just say that the matriarch doesn't leave the nest unless it's to feed? It will be useless to kill all the others if the one that is doing all the breeding remains alive."

"Sad to say, you are correct, Piricus. And, to make matters worse, Blood Hawks are smart. They hold grudges. They will no doubt come after us if we leave even one alive," Cloudyous affirmed.

"But you said the inside of the nest is vulnerable?" Maria asked, recapping.

"Yes, it's made of a delicate, intricate lining. Nothing a good blast wouldn't clear. But the problem with that is the entrance to the nest is extremely small. No bigger than for a decent-sized cat to get through," Cloudyous announced.

"Or a blood hawk," Laurella said.

Maria nodded to herself. "Or, a bird."

"Bird?" Alminus asked her.

"Yes. A bird. We have Bibo, she could fit through the opening without a problem. She could fit through there and deliver this," Maria said, pulling a glowing orange vial from her bag.

"A fire bomb? Would that work, Cloudyous?" I asked.

Cloudyous got a very serious look on his face. "Yes it would work. But how is she supposed to get out in time not to be blown to oblivion?"

"Simple. We use a wire. Have her fly it in there, drop it, fly out and then we pull the wire," Maria suggested.

"But that still leaves us getting past the outer defenses. If we are going to use a thunderstorm then Bibo is going to be in for one heck of a flight trying to dodge lightening, blood hawks and get in and out of the nest in time," Scorpious said in concern.

"You're all just assuming I can command her to do this. It doesn't work that way. If this is what we think is best, we still have to put it past her first," Cloudyous said, slightly defensive.

"Can you think of anything better? I know it's risky, but I believe in her. She's been through worse before I can imagine," I said soothingly.

"I'm uneasy with this, but I'll ask her and see what she thinks," he answered. He brought the black bird up to his eye-level and a golden glow enveloped his eyes. I saw Bibo tilt her head to the side so that she could get a better look at him and then she ruffled her wings.

Cloudyous sighed and then looked at her directly. "Are you sure you want to do this? It's not going to be easy. I'm afraid for you," he said in concern.

In answer, the raven leapt nimbly off his arm, flew over landed on a stunned Maria's shoulder. I guess she hadn't been expecting it, because I saw my assassin friend twitch. The bird nipped a stray lock of her hair and then put it's beak into her backpack, resurfacing moments later with a long string of wire, which it dropped into Maria's hand.

"I take it, we have a go from her?" Maria asked, eyeing the raven.

"It appears that way. I guess I shouldn't be so worried. She feels confident. I just have to believe in her," Cloudyous sighed.

"It's hard though I'm sure. This has got to be like watching a child do something dangerous," Vendra said in sympathy.

Cloudyous laughed. "A child? More like your mother. If anything, these guys are the ones taking care of me."

"A sad statement, druid," Piricus laughed.

"Alright, now that we have that settled," Maria said, tying a length of wire around the stopper of the vial, "all we need is just a go."

" Alright then. Go," Vendra said and without another word, we all raced up and over a hill, sloshing through the muck, into the clearing beyond. I could see a large, dark mass, jutting from the ground like a tree, but I knew it wasn't. My inner sight told me that within this mass, were many, many life forms just lounging around. But, to make life easier for Sovellis and Vendra and to help them know where to aim, I focused instead on the animals outside the nest. I felt for them, and then thirty bright shimmering stars of light burst forth.

"That's the signal. GO!" Maria told her feathery companion, and without another word, the raven burst forth into the air, with the glowing vial clutched tightly in her talons. Wire began trailing from Maria's hands as Bibo raced toward her target.

"Call a blizzard! Not a thunderstorm!" Cloudyous cried at the two magi in alarm. "That wire is metal, it will fry her!"

"Don't worry, we've already thought of that. Everyone wrap up," Vendra said with a smile.

"It about to get very cold here," Sovellis added as he and Vendra raised their hands and staves up to the sky. Immediately, white, fluffy clouds began to swirl down from the sky and within minutes, an icy wind had engulfed the area. I shivered as snow began falling in force, accompanied not long after but a barrage of thick, deadly, icicles.

The birds began dropping immediately, some because their wings had been frozen and some because they had been impaled. I didn't worry too much about them, I kept my eyes on Bibo's shadowy form the whole time holding my breath. I watched as the bird expertly twisted in the air to avoid a falling ice spire and then duck under a Blood Hawk's talons. Seconds passed, and then in a blink, she disappeared into the mass that was the nest.

I could hear the ruckus from within the mass as the Blood Hawks immediately recognized an intruder. I heard screeching and squawking and the walls of the chamber began to thrash violently. I was extremely concerned for Bibo at this point. She should have been in and out. Seconds passed, but still nothing.

"Bibo!" Cloudyous shouted in concern. "That's it, I'm going in," he shouted.

"No, you can't walk strait through that ice storm, it'll kill you!" I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

"Let go of me!" Cloudyous shouted in protest.

"Wait! There she is!" Laurella said and pointed back to the entrance of the nest where a black shadow was emerging.

"That's it," Maria said and in one swift movement, she yanked hard on the wire. The effects were immediate, a loud and blinding explosion lit the area and feathers and blood and debris spewed everywhere along with licks of flame.

I saw Bibo make her way back to us. I also saw the large, red mass that dived after her. It was huge, about the size of Belthem, so I guessed it was none other than the matriarch herself. I watched in suspense as Bibo sensed her attacker, and then in a dangerous move, flew headlong back into Sovellis' and Vendra's ice storm. Ice rained down in all directions, narrowly missing Bibo and to our dismay, the matriarch. I watched the two birds in amazement, both were master flyers. I cringed as the Blood Hawk Matriarch got close enough and grabbed a beak-full of Bibo's tail feathers. Bibo squawked and tried in vain to pull farther ahead, but was forced to stop momentarily by an ice spire that fell directly in front of her head. In that moment, the matriarch grabbed her. There was loud squawking and screeching as I watched the Red bird turn in on itself, dragging Bibo with it.

"STOP THE STORM! STOP!" Cloudyous bellowed and wrenched free of my grasp, barreling towards the two birds.

Vendra and Sovellis, both stunned, immediately relented their spell, but the storm didn't stop instantaneously. I watched in horror as Cloudyous became a sitting duck as he tried to dodge spires of ice on his way to his friend.

"This is awful! I can't watch," Laurella said and quickly turned away.

"That's really going to help them out a lot, rogue." Piricus snapped.

"Shut up, Piricus," Ryelass hissed.

"Somebody do somethin'! Chyemme can ya hit it?" Alminus asked in concern.

"No," I said truthfully. "They're so close together that if I hit one, I'll hit the other!"

"What can we do?" Vendra asked in horror.

"Spiritus sancti guardium . . ." I heard Scorpious shout and he hit his knees with his hands clasped tightly together, praying profusely. Out of all of us, he was the only one to actually be able to do something. A gold glow wrapped all of us, including Bibo and the blood hawk matriarch. I heard a screech and then saw Bibo remerge from beneath the mass of red feathers. She was straining her wings and was breaking away, but the matriarch still had one of her talons. Then, in an unfathomable act of pain, Bibo turned and bit through her own talon, severing it. The raven swerved, just in time to avoid a final spire of ice that would have hit her, and it spiraled deep into the back of the Blood Hawk Matriarch. The large, scarlet bird fell out of the sky with a dying gasp just as the storm ceased.

By this time, Cloudyous had raced up to Bibo, and she landed ungracefully in his arms. No one said a word, but everyone rushed to their side.

"Cloudyous is she?" I asked.

"She's . . . . she's fine . . . ." Cloudyous said in utter amazement as he looked her over. "Other than her talon, she's okay. How in hell did that happen? You," he said, hugging her, "are a VERY lucky creature."

"More like what in heaven happened. What did you do, Scorpious?" I asked.

"The paladin defiance aura. It helps you repel attacks. It gives you an extra bit of armor. We paladins call it the shield of faith," he said calmly.

"Incredible," Maria said quietly. "I've never seen anything like this before. Your faith is so strong you can actually use it to put a barrier between yourself and your enemy. . ."

"A spell, assassin. That's all that was," Piricus said coldly.

"You keep making a point to tell us that," Ryelass snapped.

"Because I want you to see it for what it is. This was not a miracle, it was an act of magic," he said persistently.

"I don't care what it was. It saved her life," Cloudyous said quietly. "That's twice now. Twice you've saved her from death, Scorpious."

"It's not a problem. I consider her and Belthem members of this party just the same as you. They are my comrades just the same and I will do whatever I can to help them," he assured.

"I don't know how to thank you . . ." Cloudyous said softly.

"As I told you before, you don't have to. Now, let's take a look at her toe. Looks like she's still got half of it left, just not the talon portion," Scorpious said brightly.

"Small sacrifice, considering she could have lost life," Sovellis pointed out.

"This is a clean break. It will heal fine," Scorpious assured and pulled a bandage out of his pack while applying pressure with his other hand. A blue glow washed over the area, and the bleeding stopped, long enough for Scorpious to finish tending to her.

Once she was bandaged, Bibo hopped nimbly onto Cloudyous' arm and then to his shoulder. "Once again, you have her thanks," Cloudyous said, though he didn't really need to.

"No worries. Consider it reciprocity for saving Laurella's life earlier tonight if it helps you to look at it that way and feel less indebted to me," he offered.

"No matter what way you put it, I still owe you. But believe me when I say if you ever need us for any reason, we will be there for you," Cloudyous said nobly.

"Don't let it trouble you. Alright, now that that is settled, Laurella, which way?" Scorpious asked her, turning back to the issues at present.

"Should be strait ahead. There is a small trail that will take us into the Tamoe Highlands and ultimately, into the monastery gates," she replied.

"Wait. Before we go, I should have Belthem scout ahead for us. Wolves are native to this region, I'm sure he wouldn't look like anything out of the ordinary to the demons," Cloudyous offered.

"You surprise me, druid. You actually want to part ways with your animal given light of what just happened?" Piricus asked rudely.

"He's not going far, just to the start of the trail, and I was about to say, I'm going with him," Cloudyous said bluntly.

"No way. It's too dangerous. For either of ya," Alminus interjected, speaking the words that were on Scorpious' lips.

"Not for wolves," Cloudyous assured. "It's no different than what Maria did for us at the tower this morning. In fact, I think I have the advantage. Maria may have keen night vision, but as a werewolf, I have keen vision, hearing, AND smell," he insisted.

"If you're going, then someone else should go with you," I suggested. "I'll go," I offered.

Maria stepped up beside me. "No. I will. No offense, Chyemme, you may be able to see what's coming, but you're not as stealthy as myself or a wolf. Our enemies would likely detect your presence," she pointed out.

I sighed. "You're probably right. Just be careful will you?"

"Don't worry, aren't we always?" Cloudyous assured.

"Quickly in, quickly out," Scorpious said solemnly and took Maria's pack from her when she handed it to him.

"Of course," Cloudyous said and before our eyes, he shifted into a humanoid wolf. The werewolf Cloudyous locked eyes with Belthem and gave him a short bark. The wolf panted, then took up a position at his side, with Maria walking up to join them.

"Now you see us," she said calmly. "Now, you don't," she finished and at that exact moment she, Cloudyous and Belthem melded into the shadows and were gone.

"Well, now what?" Alminus asked as he looked around to the numerous bird corpses lying around.

"We should search and see if we come up with useful things," Sovellis suggested.

"He's right, spread out," Ryelass continued.

I did as I was told and started scanning the ground around myself where three birds had fallen. I carefully rolled their bodies over, not finding anything of use. All in all, we spent the better part of fifteen minutes searching and in the end, came up with a healing potion, a few stray gold coins, and a strange talisman, found in the matriarch's stomach that looked like a bear claw.

"I'll bet Cloudyous knows what type of claw that is," Vendra said, glancing the thing over. "We should ask him when he comes back."

"I'm worried about them," Laurella said quietly. "They've been gone a long time."

Scorpious got a very serious look on his face. "You're right, they've been gone about half an hour if the moon tells me right."

"I wouldn't worry. I think we'd know if they were in trouble," I said soothingly. "For one we'd be hearing--" I didn't finish, an eerie howl echoed from somewhere not too far away.

"That sound like Belthem," Sovellis observed grimly.

"What was that you were saying, amazon?" Piricus asked sarcastically.

"We'd know. Between me and Laurella, we'd know if something was horribly wrong," I continued. "In fact, here they come," I said as my inner sight felt them draw near.

Sure enough, moments later the three resurfaced into view, although by the looks of things, they had seen battle. Cloudyous was limping slightly, Maria had a scratch on her arm, and Belthem looked as if his fur had been singed a little.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Scorpious asked, eyeing them.

There was a gutteral sound as Cloudyous growled something that turned into words as his mouth shifted back to normal. "Skeletons. Lots of them. Mages, archers, you name it. We managed to clear a small group, but we could see more of them in the distance. I don't suppose there's another necromancer around? What do you think, Piricus?" he asked.

Piricus rolled his eyes. "Druid, how the hell am I supposed to know that sort of thing without being present to get a look and feel for those monsters? But if you want my opinion, then I'd tell you that Andariel is capable of more black magic than simply pushing a pile of bones out of the ground."

"When you said more of them, did you get an estimate how many more?" Ryelass asked.

"An army of them," Maria said seriously. "More than we can handle at the moment. We need more people if we want to swath a path through there."

"Well, that's a problem 'cause we don't have anyone else. All the rogues 'r back at the encampment, and we gotta get through to the monastery," Alminus said in frustration.

"There has to be more than one way to do this," I said, thinking out loud. "Laurella is there ANY other way that you know of? Anything at all?"

The redhead considered to herself a moment, then looked around at us slowly. "Yes, now that I think of it, but it's going to be twice as dangerous."

"Dangerous? How so?" Vendra asked.

"I know a way that not many of my sisters do. Celeste showed it to me back before her corruption. There's a cave that leads to a secret passage that will bring us right up into the courtyard of the monastery. The thing is, the cave is in the side of a mountain and the climb is strait up. A fall from there would be lethal," she said gravely.

"As opposed to an ill-fated charge on an army of skeletons?" Piricus growled. "You're just full of good news, rogue."

"Shut up jackass. She's a ton more helpful than you," Vendra growled.

"Not if we end up having to go through the skeletons," Piricus said crossly.

"Damned if we do, damned if we don't," Alminus said flatly.

"Out of the two options, death is more likely if we take the direct approach through the skeletons. No one has to die from a climb, just be careful," Maria said decisively.

"I agree," I answered. "But," I began, asking the question that was on my mind, "What are we going to do about the skeletons? We can't just leave them there. What about the sisters?"

"I think, Chyemme, that we may not have to fight them. If Piricus' hunch about Andariel being responsible for their presence is true, if we vanquish her they should cease to exist," Scorpious comforted.

"Let's hope," I answered.

"Hope is not a strategy, amazon," Piricus said rudely.

"Hope is better than nothing," I shot back.

"Don't fight," Scorpious said firmly. "I think Maria is right. Does anyone think otherwise?" he asked. When no one spoke up, not even Piricus, he nodded. "Right. Then the cave it is. Lead on, Laurella."

It was breaking dawn when we finally took our last step out of the soggy, stinking Black Marsh and onto the grassy plateau of the Tamoe Highlands. It was about an hour's walk from there, but eventually we made our way to the cliffs. Alminus whistled as he looked up and down the mountain.

"You weren't kiddin' that is a climb," he stated bluntly.

"It would be a ton easier with rope," Laurella said wistfully.

"Well, wait a second. We have rope, don't we?" Vendra asked, dropping her pack and rummaging through it. "There you go," she said, resurfacing with some. "We do."

"What are you driving at, sorceress?" Piricus asked in irritation.

"If you're so smart, haven't you already figured it out?" Vendra hissed at him.

"Leave him be," Sovellis said sternly. 'You waste energy and breath."

"Yeah, yeah," Vendra griped. "Anyway, before you interrupted me, jackass, I was going to tell you that Sovellis and I can teleport. I can see the entrance to the cave clearly, so it shouldn't be a problem. We'll both go up there and tie the rope so the rest of you can follow," she offered.

"Can you guys just teleport everyone up there?" Ryelass asked.

Sovellis shook his head. "No we cannot. Use to much energy. It exhaust us," he explained.

"Chyemme, can you check to see what's up there with your Inner Sight?" Scorpious asked me.

I nodded and closed my eyes. I didn't feel anything immediate up there other than air. "Looks safe to me," I assured.

"Right. Then up we go. Come on, Sovellis," she said, nudging him and in a blink they were gone. I watched in amazement as they popped out of nowhere standing on the ridge above.

"Everything's okay so far!" Vendra shouted down to us, although she was barely audible. I continued to watch as they tied the rope to objects I couldn't see, then it came tumbling down the Cliffside towards us, stopping just shy of the ground.

"Come up!" Sovellis assured, gesturing for us to begin our climb.

"I'll go first," Piricus said suddenly.

"And why pray-tell do you want to do that? It's unlike you," Cloudyous asked curiously.

"Because by my reason if I go first that will give me the most time to get up to the top before the rope breaks," he said rudely.

"Go figure," Ryelass said with a scowl.

"Well, if yur goin', go," Alminus said impatiently and we all watched as Piricus grabbed hold of the rope and began climbing.

"I'll go last, since I weigh the most," Alminus offered,

"Hey, Cloudyous?" I began, a question in mind.

"Yes, Chyemme?"

"How is Belthem going to get up the cliff, he can't climb?" I asked, pondering out loud.

"I was thinking about that. Excuse me, Alminus, can I ask you a favor, since you're the strongest here?" he started.

"I don' see 'y not. Ya want me ter carry Belthem to the top?" he said, immediately arriving at the proper conclusion.

"Yes. I'll carry the pack, if you can secure and carry him," Cloudyous offered.

"No problem, jus' as long as he doesn' bite me or anythin'," he answered.

"He wouldn't. I told him that you're helping him, so he knows better," Cloudyous assured.

"Alrigh'. Get some rope and tie 'im to my back," Alminus instructed and together he and Cloudyous secured a grunting Belthem into place.

"Okay, I'll go," Ryelass said reaching for the rope.

"Wait, Ryelass. Let's go one at a time so the rope doesn't break for the weight," Scorpious said wisely. It was at that moment, that another rope tumbled down beside the "Use that one also," Sovellis shouted down.

"Now can I go?" Ryelass said in irritation.

"I don't see why not. Just be careful and take it as slow as you need," Scorpious pleaded.

"I've been through worse than this," Ryelass said off-handedly and without another word began his ascent.

It took a little while, but I watched as Piricus reached the top. "Okay Laurella, you're next," Scorpious ushered gently.

For the better part of two hours I waited my turn as the party climbed the ropes one by one until at last, it was only Alminus and myself left. After watching Maria reach the top of the cliff, I grabbed the rope and began climbing. This was nothing new. In Skovas, since our cities are mainly in the trees, I was used to climbing ropes and ladders just to get around. This time wouldn't be any different.

"Easy does it," Alminus said to me as I looked back down at him, as he too began to climb.

For the most part, the climb was smooth, it was strait up without any dips or curves. I was about three-fourths of the way up when I froze. My Inner Sight twinged, telling me something wasn't right. I could see them, sneaking out of the shadows. Corrupted rogues, about six of them.

"GUYS!" I shouted as loud as I could, startling Alminus whom was climbing beside me, "GUYS BEHIND YOU!" It Didn't appear that anyone had heard me, so I did the only thing I could think of. I focused on bringing my illuminating stars into existence, hopefully those would expose the dangers lurking in the dark.

I heard someone shout, it sounded like Vendra and then the sounds of a battle.

"What in heck is goin' on up there?" Alminus asked from beside me.

"Corrupted rogues. I don't know how they got up there, but they did. Let's go, we still have to get to the top. The faster we can the less time we have for something disastrous to happ--" I began. My heart felt like it fell through my feet. I heard snapping up ahead and looking in horror, realizing that somehow my rope has been either blasted or cut. It gave a final twist, then snapped.

"CHYEMME!" Alminus bellowed, immediately realizing what had just happened. I did the only thing that I could think of to save my life. I let go of the rope and grabbed onto two rocks right in front of me as the now weightless rope cascaded down some two hundred feet below. I cringed and shut my eyes for a second. Catching my breath and trying to calm my racing heart, I focused on putting my feet into footholds in the rock.

"CHYEMME! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" my barbarian friend shouted.

"I . . I'm fine," I said shakily, trying desperately not to look down.

"Just hang in there. Let me get to the top and I'll swing the rope to you," he said, trying to keep himself and me calm. Belthem whined from his back as he looked at me.

"I'll be fine. Just hurry," I tried to assure myself and him too. I watched him as he began to climb with a renewed sense of urgency. Minutes that seemed like hours passed, and then he and Belthem disappeared up and over the top. Without really waiting for them, I took a deep breath, then made a short jump to my left, grabbing the rope and clinging onto it for dear life. I had just opened my eyes when I heard a scream. I looked up and thought I was actually going to die of fright for a second. I saw the hand of a demon push Laurella over the side of the cliff. Without really thinking, I reacted. I was praying every second to Zerae that this rope would hold as I started swinging it from side to side. I got just enough momentum to swing right at the last second. Swallowing an enormous dose of my own fear, I let go of the rope with one hand and caught Laurella's trailing arm. I strained with everything I had not to let go, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult, the angle I was holding her was awkward.

I had a brief recollection of yesterday, trying to hold me and Piricus on to solid ground, but I realized with horror that this time, Piricus wasn't going to be at the bottom to catch me, and that the bottom meant death this time. Piricus had said that next time I fell, it was going to be on my face, and it looked like that might actually become reality.

Despite my better judgment, I looked down. Laurella was in frightened tears, hanging onto me with everything she had.

"It's going to be fine," I huffed, not actually knowing whether it would be or not. "I've got you, just breathe. It'll be fine in a second, I'll pull you up and then you can grab the rope too," I soothed.

I expected my reaction to sooth Laurella, but instead she just screamed and closed her eyes. I looked up to see why she was screaming and cursed with every foul word I knew. My worst nightmare was becoming reality, the initial tug of my catching her, had strained the rope and it was beginning to unravel.

Laurella was sobbing, but she opened her eyes and looked directly at me. "Let go, Chyemme," she cried hysterically.

"WHAT?! NO WAY!" I shouted at her, feeling frightened and enraged at the idea that she should even suggest that.

"If you let go, you can get to the top before it breaks," she shrieked in anguish and fear.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU DIE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and clinging on even harder than before, though my muscles were screaming in protest. I didn't know how much longer I could hold her, or how much longer the rope would hold us. I prayed. I prayed hard. Not knowing what else to do, I screamed for Scorpious. The man worked miracles. Maybe he had one left to save us.

"SCORPIOUS!" I shouted in vain, I could still hear them fighting at the top.

"He's not coming . . . Let . . Go," Laurella sobbed. "Please . . .we . . .don't both have to d . . die," she hiccupped.

"DON'T YOU DARE LET GO OF ME LAURELLA! DON'T YOU DARE!" I shouted in terror, realizing that at any second she might just do that. I heard a pop as one strand of the woven rope broke. One strand, then two, then three, and then to my dismay the fourth and last. My heart sank and I screamed too, as both of us plummeted down toward the ground at an alarming speed. It was over. I was out of ideas, I knew nothing that could save us. The reality was, we were going to die. Both of us.

"GODDESS SAVE US!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I guessed that there was no shame in those for final words, after all, I could only think of one better. One word came to mind, although I had no idea why. The word was a name. And that name belonged to a rude, obnoxious, self-centered, egotistical necromancer. Why I should think of him of all people before I died, was beyond me. I don't know why, but I screamed his name.

"PIRICUS!" I shouted as if that name would save my life, and then I saw him. I guessed somehow, he had heard me. I saw his emerald green eyes from atop the cliff and then he vanished. My heart sank even further. That hadn't worked. Now I could only wait for the inevitable. I felt my body flip in the air, so that I was facing Laurella, and the ground. Even though we were falling, we still held each other for dear life. We were actually hugging now. She was in tears, and both of us were screaming. I closed my eyes. The ground was about ten seconds away, I could smell the grass.

I heard a loud cracking noise and felt something grab the back of my breastplate's collar. I heard another crack, and then, we hit something solid. I expected it to hurt, I expected to have every bone in my body broken and crushed, but somehow I felt no pain, just impact. I didn't dare open my eyes, I was so afraid of what I would see when I did. I expected to hear the singing of angels maybe, or the voice of the Goddess, what I got, was a rude wake-up call as something shook me violently.

"Open your eyes, amazon, or are you blind now from trauma?" It was Piricus. I immediately open my eyes and looked around. We were on a platform, at the entrance to a cave. Everyone was crowded around us, and it was Piricus who was standing over me and shaking me. I don't know why, but I immediately reach up and hugged him around the neck. It had to have been him somehow that saved my life. Piricus acted like a snake had just bitten him.

"GET OFF ME!" he shouted vehemently and shoved me back. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?"

"She's jus' happy ter be alive. I don't think yur anything special Piricus, jus' the first one she saw," Alminus said coldly.

I heard sniffling and I turned and saw Laurella shaking in Ryelass' arms. "We're alive . . .oh my God . . ." she kept repeating to herself over and over.

"Yes, you are. It's going to be alright now," Ryelass assured her gently. I was confused. Just what had happened? I looked over and then noticed a third person on the ground, with dark, dark skin. It was Sovellis and he was out cold. Vendra had raced to his side and was shaking him.

"Sovellis! Sovellis, you idiot! Wake up!" Vendra cried, near tears. He didn't move in the slightest.

"What happened?" I asked shakily, fearing the worst.

"What happened? He saved your lives, that's what happened! He teleported down there, grabbed the two of you and teleported back after he just told you that it drains us to take somebody other than ourselves with us. If he's lost all of his mana, then he's . . he's . . ." Vendra choked on the words and began to sob.

"He's still alive," Maria said plainly, "just out cold."

"Here, give him a mana potion, that should wake him up," Scorpious said reassuringly, handing one to her. Vendra tilted his head back and poured the potion down, as Scorpious put his hands on Sovellis' head and began to pray. A blue glow washed over the mage's body and in a few seconds, he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Ow. My head hurt," he said, rubbing it.

"That's because you hit it, knucklehead," Vendra sniffled and hugged him. Once she finished doing that she started shaking him. " YOU IDIOT YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" she screeched. "YOU SHOULD HAVE HAD ME CATCH ONE OF THEM, THEN THE TOLL ON YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SO BAD!"

Sovellis sprang to his feet, a little disoriented. "Where are they?! Chyemme! Laurella! Do they live!?" he asked frantically.

"Yes, Sovellis. We're alive," I said, finding my feet and walking over to him. "Thanks to you."

He put his large, dark hand on my shoulder. "I glad. I not sure if I save two people at once," he explained.

"You weren't sure and you came anyway? You risked your life for ours?" Laurella squeaked.

"Yes. I can't watch friends die when I know I can help," he said nobly.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Laurella said sincerely and without another word she ran up to him jumped up as high as she could to get level with him and kissed him full on the lips.

He blushed as hard as that was to see. "It nothing," he said, "you would do same for me."

"Hey," Vendra said, poking Laurella, "watch it. I know you're newly revived and all, but still!"

"Sorry, Vendra," Laurella said sheepishly.

"Sovellis," Vendra began, "like I said before why the hell didn't you come get me?"

"There no time. Piricus run up, grab me, and say Chyemme and Laurella in danger, do something," he relayed.

"YOU?" Laurella balked, surprised. "I thought you didn't care," she said sentimentally.

"I told you he does," I said with a smile.

"I do not! I owed you one more debt, amazon and that was it," Piricus said coldly.

"Well then, I guess we're even," I declared. "Thank you all the same," I thanked.

"Whatever," he said apathetically.

"The tunnel is clear. If you two are alright, then we should continue," Maria urged. "The longer we take the more powerful Andariel gets."

"You're right. Let's go," Laurella said, collecting herself.

"You said this tunnel comes up under the courtyard?" Vendra asked.

"Yes. And I'd bet everything I have on the fact that that place is crawling with demons and my fallen sisters," she answered.

"We have ter get the Horadric Malus before we do anythin'. Charsi said it was in the barracks," Alminus reminded.

"That's just as well," Laurella said, "because in order to get anywhere else in the monastery, you have to go through the barracks. And, you're all in luck, because I know the quickest way to get there. It's through one set of doors from the courtyard. And Charsi's forge is just down the hall after that."

"We need to be on guard for the Smith," Maria said seriously. "We know that it's super strong and that makes it extra dangerous. And if this demon is a blacksmith of hell, chances are he's immune to the effects of fire and had skin tougher than steel," she added.

"Oh joy," Vendra said sarcastically, and with that, we headed down the dark tunnel toward the monastery. The rest of the trip was smooth, other than that band of corrupted rogues, the path was completely devoid of life besides ourselves. After about fifteen minutes, we reached a stone staircase with a lever beside it.

"This is it. Is everybody ready?" Laurella asked.

"Let's see. There are about twenty fallen sisters standing up there," I said, scanning the area.

"All together? Or are they spread out?" Scorpious asked.

"Spread out," Laurella finished for me. "Five in each of the four corners of the yard."

"Then we'll divide into groups. Chyemme, go with Piricus," Scorpious said, making Piricus raise an eyebrow.

"Why is it that you always put me with her? I can do this on my own, Five demons are nothing. The only reason thus far we have even remotely gotten along is because I was indebted to her. Now that is over, so I don't give a damn about her safety," he said rudely.

"Maybe so, but you're not the problem, it's everyone else. No one really trusts you if you haven't noticed. Nobody but Chyemme and I think that trust is definitely misplaced," Ryelass growled.

"I agree with you there, warrior," Piricus said giving me an icy look.

"You can fight alongside me for a change of pace if you wish, Piricus," Scorpious said flatly.

Piricus coughed sarcastically. "I'd die before I help you out, paladin."

"Why don't you just let him do things his way?" Maria said icily. "Loose him on five demons of his own and no one bail him out of trouble when he's in it," she suggested.

"You make it sound like I can't take care of myself, assassin, you're constantly wrong, as always. Watch and see for yourself," he hissed.

"There's no need for that. Piricus, think of it this way, things will go twice as fast with me there and you'll waste less mana," I said giving him a stern look.

"Whatever. But don't expect me to save your ass anymore, we're even," he said glowering at me.

"Now that that's settled, Ryelass, Alminus and Cloudyous, you go together, Maria go with me and Laurella, and Vendra and Sovellis you two go together as well. But, before we go, is everyone alright? Chyemme?" he asked and I nodded.

"I takes more than that to shut me down," I assured.

"Laurella?" he asked.

"Chances are you are going to see people you once knew in here and you will have to destroy them. Are you prepared?" Maria asked her.

"Just think of it this way," Scorpious said reassuringly, "you are putting their souls back into the light where they belong."

Laurella nodded. "I think I'm ready."

"You think is not good enough. One moment of "I think" is going to get you killed," Maria said gravely.

"Have a heart, Maria. This has got ter be tough on her," Alminus said reproachfully.

"I am only stating the truth. I am here to help, but I can't be her protector the entire time we are here in the monastery so she doesn't have to kill anyone, and neither can anyone else," she said truthfully.

"I believe in what Scorpious said. You can trust me to do my part," Laurella said more firmly this time.

"That's better," Maria replied.

"And last but not least, Sovellis are you alright to continue?" Scorpious asked in concern.

"Fit as fiddle," he assured the paladin with a smile.

"Okay then, whenever you're ready, Laurella, pull the lever," he instructed, and the young rogue did as she was told.

Bright daylight nearly stunned us as we streamed into the courtyard. I could hear running water and looked up to realize we had come out right under an intricate water fountain with marble rogues on guard decorating it. I didn't have time to get much of a look around, I zeroed my attention in on a group of demons off to me left.

"I'm going that way, amazon," Piricus said simply and gestured to the right.

"But what about those?" I asked, looking left.

"I told you all I'm going to say," he said flatly and without another word, he called something in arcane language and the earth at my toes rumbled, producing a clay golem from the ground. I didn't need a second invitation to follow the lumbering creature into battle. I pulled a javelin from my back and slung it at the nearest demon, whom had her back turned to me. It hit her right in the middle and shattered her spine. By this time, the remaining four turned and charged. I grabbed another javelin and threw it into the face of one as Piricus conjured and energy ball and through it into the throat of another. With three dead, that just left two more. Those two actually entered into melee striking distance. Not wanting to waste another javelin, I reached to my hip and drew my new crystal sword that I had received yesterday from the countess' horde. The demoness swung at me with axe held high, and I parried it with my sword, kicked her in the midriff, which sent her backwards, then cut off her head with a spinning strike. Piricus, as per usual just simply stepped back and let his golem grab the demon, rip her arms off and then stomp the remains flat. I cringed at the sight.

"A little violent, wasn't that?" I asked slightly disturbed.

"Not compared to the death I would have died at her hands," Piricus said plainly and the two of us turned around to watch our fellows. Over in the corner, Belthem had leapt onto one of the demons, grabbing her axe arm and crunching it in his jaws. The demon went to strike the wolf, but Cloudyous smashed his club into her face, sending bits of flash and blood everywhere. A demon went to stab Ryelass in the side, but Bibo dove into her face with talons raked. The demon flailed wildly trying to see, and while she did, Ryelass eviscerated her. Alminus didn't have much trouble either, one swung and he reached out and grabbed her hand, yanking her forward into the tip of his axe. He ducked as the fourth one swung over his head. Ryelass turned around and parried her strike, temporarily stunning her in time enough for Alminus to reach and grab her feet, pulling them out from under her. The demon struggled on the ground for a minute, but Alminus held her down with ease, punched her in the face, breaking her nose and jaw, and then he slammed the butt of his axe right down through her skull. The fifth and last demon of that group charged wildly, but Cloudyous caught her in the midriff with his club, stunning her, as Ryelass moved in and decapitated her.

Over to our left, Scorpious had charged in sword and shield held high. He bashed a demon backwards with his shield, then plunged his blade into her gut. He turned sharply and blocked the strike of another, while Laurella shot her in the head, killing her. Two demons had rushed Maria at once, but I was far from concerned about her safety. Maria grabbed the axe of one and twisted her hand around the demon's wrist, disarming her. Once disarmed, Maria roughly shoved the defenseless demon into the path of her attacking fellow, and I watched as the demon killed it's comrade by mistake. Maria then shoved the dead demon's body onto the live one, knocking her over. Maria stepped on her axe hand, and sliced it off with one katar, while bringing the other katar around and slicing her face open with the other. One demon remained for their group, charging Maria from behind. Maria did a back kick into it's gut that sent the demon backwards right into Scorpious, whom grabbed her shoulder and yanked backwards, pulling her into his blade.

With those five down, I turned to observe Sovellis and Vendra. Vendra cast out her hand and a wall of flame erupted in front of them between herself and the demons. Sovellis made a similar move and cast another wall of fire, diagonally cutting across the first. Vendra conjured yet another wall of flame, trapping the demons in a triangle of inferno. The two of them closed their hands together, squishing the demons between the burning walls and charring them alive. Once all the demons we dead, we regrouped. It was then I noticed the waypoint in the middle of the courtyard.

"Is that another waypoint?" Vendra asked, eyeing it.

"Sure looks li' it," Alminus answered.

"What keeps the demons from using them to teleport?" I asked aloud, finally having the opportunity to do so.

"They made of ancient magic. Powerful ancient magic, but good. No evil can enter circle of good binding," Sovellis explained.

"So it's like a circle of protection?" I asked.

"Yes. Exactly," Vendra answered.

"Well, that's a relief to hear," I replied.

"Now where?" Ryelass asked, looking around the large square courtyard. "So this is where Andariel has risen again," he observed. "Strange, other than the demons, this looks like a normal courtyard. It's not tainted."

"It probably has to do with the waypoint's magic," Vendra pointed out.

"If it's corruption you're looking for Ryelass, my guess is that you will not have to wait long. My guess is that it will start the second we actually enter the monastery itself," Scorpious concluded.

"Which is how far, Laurella?" Ryelass asked, pointing out each of the heavy wooden double doors at the four corners of the room.

"This way," Laurella said, pointing west. But as we neared the door we began to hear odd noises.

"What that noise?" Sovellis asked quietly as the strange grunting sounds permeated through the door.

Ryelass got a sour look on his face and he and Alminus looked at each other. "Tell me that's not what I think it is?" Ryelass asked in irritation.

"Certainly sounds li' 'em," Alminus responded.

"What are you two talking about," Laurella asked curiously.

"By Trag 'Oul do none of the women in this group know nothing? Are you all witless?" Piricus grumbled. "Think for a change. You just spent an entire night listening to those two babble about them."

"Do you mean--oh great," Vendra growled.

"Yeties. Let's take a look at them," I offered and closed my eyes. I reached into the next room with my inner sight, feeling for the life forces within. I found them without much difficultly. Big, hulking animals that were a lot like the gargantuan beasts and wendigos that we had encountered so far. We had yet to face them in battle, still by their feel, I knew them to be stronger than the ones before.

"How many of them are there?" Maria asked, focused.

"Ten," I answered.

"Just what the blazes are they doing down this far away from the northlands?" Ryelass asked, dismayed.

"It actually doesn't surprise me. We are in a mountainous region. This monastery is nestled into a mountain pass. Yeties are native to mountains all across sanctuary, not just the northlands," Cloudyous explained.

"Well, if there are ten of them that should make this divvying this up easier," Scorpious acknowledged.

"Got any advice to give?" I asked Alminus and Ryelass.

"I don' know how they react ter magic, but if yur usin' steel we killed 'em last time by goin' for the throat," Alminus announced.

"Good to know," Scorpious said with a nod at them.

"They're also really sensitive on their feet, especially their toes. They're very tactile, they use them to feel their way around at night," Cloudyous added.

"Right. Got it. Let's go," Vendra affirmed, and moved toward the door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, sorceress," Piricus said snidely.

"Why the hell not, jackass?" she growled.

"VENDRA!" I cried realizing where Piricus was headed.

"What?" she said irritably.

"THE DOOR!" I shouted, just as a bestial roar resounded through the air. Without warning, a large fist crashed through the solid oak. Vendra jumped back in surprise, the furry fist missed her, but that was not the problem. The problem was the huge door that was about to fall on top of her.

She looked up and yelped. She closed her eyes and in a blink, she was right beside Sovellis as the door smashed into the stone floor and shattered into splinters. In moments, the herd of yeti stampeded through the archway.

I kept in mind what Alminus and Ryelass had said to me, and, taking careful aim, I launched a javelin into the neck of one. To my dismay the projectile went partially in, but not all the way. The creature coughed, but then yanked it out.

I saw an arrow fly through the air aimed at the injured beast as Laurella tried to help me out. She aimed for the eyes, however she didn't do much better than me. The arrow struck the creature in the face and bounced off. Although, it did bray and cover its face with its hands. This only hindered the beast, not stopped it and the monster was quickly shoved aside by the others in their feral rage.

"Oh no you don't!" Vendra snarled as one reached for her. She raised her staff overhead and smashed it into the creature's outstretched hand. It hissed and waved it around some and Vendra used that moment of distraction to conjure a fireball right into its gut. The creature shrieked as the ball hit and its fur caught fire. It began running around frantically tripping and knocking over some of its fellows. In a few more moments the fire turned to inferno and burned the creature alive.

"Good idea," Laurella said as she notched an arrow, brought it up to eye level, and focused. Her arrow burst into flame just seconds before she loosed it and it soared towards the creature charging at her and me leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. True to rogue archer reputation the arrow flawlessly hit the mark, embedding itself directly into the creature's forehead. It's head caught fire and it wasn't to long before it too fell dead.

I heard a might shout and looked over to where Alminus and Ryelass had been engaged in a melee confrontation by two yeties. They now found themselves back to back, each facing a monster. Both creatures swung simultaneously. I saw Ryelass smirk as he and Alminus exchanged looks form the corner of their eyes.

"NOW!" Ryelass declared loudly and both he and Alminus ducked quickly. The creatures' fists collided with each other in colossal force, causing both yeties to stagger backwards.

Alminus, being as strong as he was, proceeded to grab the arm of the dazed demon, pull his axe arm back and then yank the demon into him while slicing his axe forward. The force of the blow cleaved the abdominal area of the beast, and guts splattered the area from impact. The creature didn't die immediately, but it did fall over, giving Alminus a clear shot at its throat. He swiftly beheaded the creature without mercy.

Ryelass, although strong in my opinion, was nowhere near possessing the strength to manhandle an animal twice his size and four times his weight. Ryelass however, did have speed on his side. The stunned demon staggered, and while it regained itself, Ryelass had hit the creature four more times in the chest, knocking it back even more. Then, with and uppercut of his sword, he exposed the throat, and slashed it wide open.

In the meantime, Maria had taken a hint with the fire concept and was punching so fast, her fists caught fire and the fire spread up her katars. An animal punched at her, and she yielded aside and swiped down, cutting off an arm and igniting the animals body. She slashed with the same katar, right across the creature's abdomen spreading the fire, and then slammed her other katar point first into it's chest. She quickly refolded and then backed away as the blaze took over and silenced the creature for good. Scorpious was having a little bit of trouble, he was caught in the midst of three demons, each pummeling him from a different side. Long story short, he was having to twist around in circles with his shield in order to avoid being hit. I noticed also that the shield was receiving several major dents in it. If he didn't kill some of them now, that shield wasn't going to last much longer.

Luckily, Maria had been nearby. She ran up behind a demon, jumped up unnaturally high so that she was head-level with the demon and slammed her flaming katar into the top of the monster's skull. The creature shrieked, bucking forward, sending Maria flying as he katar lodged into the monster's brain. Maria, nimble as she was, landed like a cat on her feet, but she soon went flying off of them as one of the monsters reverted it's attention to her instead of Scorpious and smashed it's fist into her side. This time, Maria hit a wall, and slumped over, unconscious.

"MARIA!" Scorpious shouted in concern as the creature sauntered towards her to finish her off, but he couldn't get to her, he still had a monster attacking him.

I heard a loud snarl and then something grey and furry blindsided the monster approaching Maria. It was too big to be Belthem and I was sure that it couldn't be another yeti. Fur started to fly and I realized that a werewolf Cloudyous had jumped in to intercept the monster. I watched as Cloudyous' movements became a blur, and then from somewhere in the battle, fire erupted and engulfed the yeti, which quickly burned to death. When the motion steeled, I noticed that Cloudyous had somehow managed to put flame around his claws.

Cloudyous didn't stop there, paws still ablaze, he tackled the monster in front of Scorpious, digging his nail/claws into the creature, spreading fire from them and savagely ripping into the monster's face and throat with his fangs. It wasn't long before that creature was dead too.

Scorpious rushed to Maria's side, but yet another monster charged him. I decided I wasn't going to stand for that and aiming as precisely as I could, I hurled a javelin into the creature's foot. I had success this time, blood fountained forward and the creature began hopping around. I tossed a javelin into the other foot, knocking the creature down completely, and giving Scorpious the opportunity to behead it, which he seized.

Looking around, the remaining yeti had charged Piricus, whom conjured a barbed ball and flung it at the creature's face. Much to his dismay, it hit and bounced off. I heard him curse as the creature lumbered toward him, but it was intercepted by the clay golem, with whom it became engaged in a fierce grappling match. Seeing this, Sovellis seized the opportunity and came up behind the monster, held out his hand, and blasted a jet of continuous fire that baked the demon alive. The monster fell forward, crushing the golem.

"MAGE!" Piricus shouted in fury.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"SORRY MY ASS! I'M GOING TO--" he shouted in rage, but I walked out in front of him.

"Just conjure another one," I said simply, putting myself between the two of them.

"Get out of the way, amazon, before I kick your ass and make you wish you'd died falling off that cliff," he said, irate.

"You make it sound like I'd just let you hurt me. You're not invincible, you know. If you did end up fighting me, you'd get hurt too," I pointed out.

"Get out of the way," he repeated, although less fiercely this time.

"Not a chance until you turn around and walk the other way," I said firmly.

"Do you have a death wish?" he growled.

"Do you?" I retorted.

He blinked. "What?" he asked in surprise. "He actually think you could kill me?"

"We're a better match than you think, so I'd watch who you threaten," I assured.

"That would be interesting to see," he said, although not without a traces of a smirk. "Have it your way, but believe me, don't challenge me unless you are ready to die," he said with a dark twinkle in his eyes.

"What about the golem?" I asked him, eyeing the heap of clay on the floor.

"What about it?" he asked crossly.

"Aren't you going to conjure another one?" I asked.

" Why? I'm already surrounded by inferior creatures. But, no. I have something better planed. Like this," he said, raising both his hands so that yellow-green energy poured off of them and onto the yeti corpses. Without warning, several small explosions shook the area as the animal corpses exploded from the inside out, giving rise to ten, newly formed, gleaming white skeletons armed with not only axes, but bone shields as well.

"Shields?" I asked, amused. "You really exerted yourself."

He scoffed. "Hardly. Exerting myself would be raising all the corpses in this area."

"Just how many of this things can you raise and control at one time? The most I've seen is fifteen so far," I said, recollecting.

"That's my little secret I'm afraid. If I tell you, I'd have to kill you. Oh, and I'd hope you never have to find out because that means I'm seriously pissed off," he said darkly.

"Or just in that much trouble," I added.

"The last thing you want is to be around a necromancer who feels threatened and that's the truth," he said dangerously.

"Chyemme, Piricus, are you two done talking, we have to move on," Ryelass snapped.

I looked up. "Is Maria okay?" I asked in concern.

"I'll live," I heard her voice say plainly as she limped over the group from where Scorpious had tended to her.

"So now it's on to the barracks, right?" I asked.

"The forge," Alminus corrected.

"Everybody be ready," Laurella said quietly. "The forge is actually right off the side of the barracks. We moved it there when I was little to give Charsi some fresh air," Laurella explained.

"How close are we?" Maria asked.

"Through those doors and down the hall to the left," she answered as we gathered around.

"No time like the present," Scorpious said as he pushed the thick double doors open and stepped into the hall beyond with the rest of us following him. We had just barely put foot in the door when we began to hear the sounds of a forge being used, the strokes of a hammer upon an anvil. We could also hear minute voices and grunts from down the hall.

"We're too late. They're already making weapons," Vendra said with dread.

"Even if that is the case, we still have to go in. We still have to stop them," Maria said with conviction.

"So my guess is tha's the Smith we're hearin'," Alminus said quietly, "but what about all them others?"

"Sound like Carvers," Sovellis observed silently.

"Not Carvers, but close. Dark Ones. They're in the same family," Cloudyous said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"How can you tell?" Vendra asked in hushed tones, it was obvious by now that we still held the element of surprise and that nobody wanted to break it.

"Practice and knowledge," he answered.

"Amazon can you look into the room without lighting up the area like a Yule tree?" Piricus asked quietly.

"I can--" Laurella began.

"No you can't. You're not as strong as she is you don't have as much control, child," Piricus said, growling the last word.

"I--" she protested.

"Not now," Scorpious said firmly to both of them.

"Shut up, paladin. Knowing you, you'll be the one to give us away or you'll come up with a reckless plan to charge in like we're indestructible," Piricus scowled.

"Hang on," I whispered before anyone could say anything else. I closed my eyes and listened intently for the sounds down the hall. Slowly, the sounds began to take shape. About ten smaller shapes, one the size of a person, and then one that was enormous. I focused harder, and they all became clear. There were ten dark ones, a shaman, and what I guessed could only be the Smith. He stood about twelve feet tall and about six feet wide, and his whole body was nothing but a solid mass of muscle, save two three-foot long horns on either side of his head.

"Well?" Piricus asked impatiently.

"It's him. It's the Smith. He's in there with ten dark ones and a shaman," I informed silently.

"Did you see the malus?" Scorpious asked in a whisper.

"No, but I got a good look at the Smith and he's not using it," I assured.

"That part's good at least," Laurella said with relief. "What now?"

"We have to take the Smith out first, he's the biggest threat," I answered, hushed.

"How do we do that?" Ryelass asked.

"We hit him until we find something that works," Vendra said bluntly.

"I have an idea, but it will take some time," Maria said quietly.

"What's that?" Alminus asked.

"I'm going to set up a trap. One that should kill him and any of the demons stupid enough to follow him, but it will take me about five minutes.

"Then get started," Piricus said rudely.

"It won't work as well out here, there's too much open space. We need to be further down the hall," she explained.

"Like a funnel. You're going to herd them into one place," I said.

"That's the plan, but we're going to need to be within eyesight of him in order to be close enough, if he wanders too far down the hall he'll likely know that something's up," Maria continued.

"You think he's that smart?" Vendra asked.

"I'd rather assume he is and be wrong than right," she countered.

"What should we do then?" Laurella asked.

"Like Vendra said. We hit him with everything we've got. Maybe with luck, we won't need Maria's trap," Scorpious suggested.

"We're underestimating those dark ones. We can't just ignore them, that will come back and bite us in the ass for sure," Vendra pointed out.

"Well, it just so happens we have ten extra axes, and two sets of fangs and talons," Scorpious said, looking at Piricus and at Belthem and Bibo.

"You will NOT command me how and when to use my minions, paladin!" Piricus hissed so loudly he was one step shy of shouting. My heart skipped a beat as the hammer strokes ceased momentarily.

For a moment, no one said anything until we heard the sounds of the hammer resume.

"Then tell me what YOU plan to do with them, so I can formulate a battle strategy that includes them," Scorpious protested.

"They're here to protect me only," he hissed.

"Come on Piricus, if you're so tough, why do you need them?" Ryelass asked scathingly.

"Nobody's asking you to charge right up to the Smith and attack him, you'll be at the back with Vendra and Sovellis," I assured.

"I've spoken with Bibo and Belthem," Cloudyous interrupted quietly. "Both say they will do their best to take care of the dark ones and their shaman. And Piricus," he added with a smile, "Belthem says he's going to use your minions as chew toys unless you do something productive with them."

I couldn't help myself, I stifled a laugh and so did nearly everyone else.

"Your mutt is getting awfully cheeky, druid. Tell him if he has the nerve to try, they'll skin him for his pelt," Piricus retorted.

"Piricus, do you honestly want to be shown up by a wolf and a bird?" I asked, goading him.

"Fine! Have it your way! By the time my minions get through with those demons, there'll be nothing left for your pathetic furry wretch," Piricus said rudely.

"That's settled. All that's left to do is go," Scorpious said. "Now," he commanded and together we rushed down the hall and into view of the forge. We hadn't gotten even halfway there when the Smith and his entourage turned sharply toward us.

I stared into the blazing orange eyes of the enormous demon for a moment. I wasn't scared, but I felt my body tense incredibly. I instantly readied my javelins and everyone else sprang to the ready also. I expected the demon to laugh at us, and tell us how puny we were, but the Smith maintained a deadly face. He Didn't look cocky, or amused. And he didn't look scared. He looked . . . .infuriated and so far we'd done nothing to provoke him save walk in. He stomped down hard on the ground and as one would expect from something that heavy and strong, it sent a powerful shockwave out in all directions. The ground rolled beneath our feet and tossed all of us into the air.

Using years of training I turned expertly in the air, twisted and landed gracefully on my feet. I heard several sounds of impact and looked around, most of my companions hadn't landed on their feet. I cringed as I watched Laurella land awkwardly and roll her ankle. She gasped in pain and staggered slightly forward.

Ryelass, whom had been able to land on his feet hastily rushed to steady her.

"YOUR SOULS SHALL FUEL THE HELLFORGE!" the demon roared, infuriated and suddenly began closing the gap between us, shaking the earth as he went.

"I don't think so," Ryelass hissed and moved in front of Laurella whom was closest to the demon.

"There's no way that's going to work! Get out of there!" Vendra shouted in concern as she regained her feet.

"DUCK!" Sovellis shouted as he conjured a flaming ball of energy in his hand and launched it at the Smith. The ball hit and bounced off like an arrow to a shield.

"Let me try," Vendra said quickly and stepped forward. Blue-white mist swirled around her hands and formed into ice as she launched it.

"Idiot do you really think that's going to work?" Piricus growled as he stood up hastily from where he had fallen. No sooner had he spoken these words than did the ice spire hit the chest of the Smith and explode into sparkles without leaving a scratch.

"His skin is like armor!" Scorpious shouted, "MOVE RYELASS!" he shouted frantically to Ryelass and Laurella just as the demon reached them. Realizing that Laurella was useless at close range, Ryelass grabbed her roughly and then threw her aside and out of harm's way, just as the demon came crashing down on him. Ryelass jumped aside as a monstrous fist came crashing down and shattered the pure stone ground he had been standing on moments before. Ryelass took his sword in both hands and swung as hard as he could sideways, catching the Smith in the abdomen. The strike couldn't have been more useless. The blade hit the belly of the Smith and broke in half.

"DAMN!" Ryelass shouted and that was all he had time to do before the demon grabbed him in his hands and began squeezing. I could hear Ryelass scream in pain and realized that we only had seconds to save his life.

"I SHALL MAKE WEAPONS FROM YOUR BONES!" The demon screeched.

"That's my line, asshole," Piricus scowled as he conjured a bone spear and tossed it at the Smith's hand crushing Ryelass. Despite it's magical prowess, the bone snapped like just that, bone.

"If steel didn't work did you really think that was going to?!" I shouted at him.

"Try your hand then, amazon. Whatever you're going to do, do it fast if you want to save your precious warrior!" he called back.

I didn't need his invitation. This thing was all muscle. Muscles reacted to lightning. Lightning I had. I grabbed one of my silver javelins and focused long and hard of years of training and devotion to Zerae. I had to trust that the goddess would allow me to channel some of her power. I focused, and felt the javelin buzz in my hand as it turned into a bolt of pure lightning that lit the surroundings.

"Chyemme! Is that!?" Vendra shouted in surprise.

I didn't bother to answer, I didn't have time. I launched my lightening bolt at the hand holding Ryelass, hoping that The Smith's skin would absorb all of the shock and not Ryelass. I was in luck. The bolt hit and sent a charge through the Smith's hand as lightening crackled off his skin. As I was hoping, the charge caused it's muscles to twitch and the demon involuntarily dropped Ryelass, whom lie motionless on the ground. The lightening though to my dismay, did little more than make the monster twitch.

By this time, the dark ones around the corner had found their way into the fray. Piricus commanded his skeletons at attack them with a gesture of his hand. Belthem and Bibo also took this as their signal and launched themselves strait past the Smith at the Dark One shaman.

I watched I horror as the demon raised his foot to stomp down on Ryelass' still form.

"I'M GONNA KICK YUR ASS!" Alminus shouted and launched himself at the demon without a second thought, though he didn't go alone. I saw Cloudyous rush to help him, changing as he ran. He sprouted thick, brown fur, his face widened and his nose elongated. His nails turned into massive claws and his legs and arms grew short and stout. In a blink, he was a human-bear. Together the grizzly-ish Cloudyous and the unbelievably strong Alminus jumped on top of the demon, managing to knock him over. Their success was short-lived however, because they couldn't hold him down. The demon used one hand to grab Alminus' arm and snap it like a twig. The giant man roared in pain, but tried to hit the demon with his other hand, which wielded his axe. The axe didn't have much better luck than Ryelass' sword, but unlike the sword it didn't break, but it did bounce out of Alminus' reach.

Cloudyous used everything he had to claw into and bite the demon, but like weapons of steel, it just wasn't working. The demon grabbed Cloudyous' muzzle and twisted, breaking his nose with a sickening crunch. Blood began to pour out his nostrils, though Cloudyous didn't relent until the demon gave a mighty shove, flinging both him and Alminus out to either side. The monstrosity jumped back to his feet and made once more to stomp Ryelass, who was out cold defenseless on the ground.

I heard Scorpious shout something and I thought for a moment he was going to charge in. I watched as his shield took on a bright, golden glow and he flung it at the demon. The shield hit the demon and acted as if he had been hit with a hammer. The monster staggered back, but then was right back on the assault.

"HURRY MARIA!" Vendra shouted as in a flash she disappeared from where she was standing, reappeared beside Ryelass, grabbed him, and teleported out from under the demon's feet with him.

"Done!" Maria said as she scrambled to her feet from where she had been kneeling, placing something. "Everyone stand back!" she shouted. "Hey demon, come over here," she shouted as she stood up and walked calmly toward the rampaging smith. The monster really must not have been that intelligent, or at least not that collected, because he roared and charged right after her. Maria backed up carefully, then jumped to the side as the Smith thundered into her trap. Lightning sparked up and around the Smith's body, and we could see his skin go transparent in places, but I knew that this wasn't going to be enough. He roared and made to step right out of the trap.

I hurled a javelin, giving it just enough lightning to hope it would pierce the skin. "ZAP HIM VENDRA! SOVELLIS!" I shouted and immediately they too turned and hit him with as much lightning as they could. My prayers seem to have been answered, because the javelin did bite flesh. Even though superficially the metal was more than enough to act as a four foot lightning rod and amplify the lightning damage of my attack, Vendra, Sovellis, and Maria's trap. The ground shook violently as the Smith electrocuted to death and then exploded in a bright flash of light.

I immediately dived to the floor beside the wall to avoid being struck and so did everyone else. Moments passed, and when the smoke cleared, I found my feet. Scorpious rushed forward from where he had been taking cover and turned to Ryelass whom Vendta had leaned over, to shield him with her body. Scorpious shook him gently, then breathed a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes and groaned.

"Damn. What happened? Everything I got hurts," he groaned. "THE SMITH!" he yelped and then sprang bolt upright, though he stumbled a bit, he didn't fall.

"Don' worry buddy, the Smith's dead," Alminus grumbled though gritted teeth.

Ryelass turned to him. "Alminus! You arm!" he said in shock and anger.

"Ya. Damn thing was a bit stronger than us, wouldn' ya say Cloudyous?" he said in pain to Cloudyous whom stood up and nodded, but said nothing because blood was still dripping from his nose. I heard a whine, and Belthem came trotting up to his side, licking his dangling hand.

"Fibinished?" Cloudyous muttered though it was hard to tell what he said due to his nose.

Belthem barked and Bibo came and landed on his shoulder just as six of Piricus' ten skeletons came back.

"What the hell happened?" Piricus snapped at them. "Never mind," he hissed.

"Ryelass are you alright?" Scorpious asked him.

"I hurt, but nothing I can't shake off. Go help them," he ushered.

Scorpious nodded and walked over to Alminus. "Hang on. I have to set this before I can heal it," he said with sympathy.

"I know," Alminus growled, although more to himself than anyone else. Scorpious sharply snapped the bone back into place and he gave a short shout, but then Scorpious began chanting over it and we watched as the wound began to mend itself. Once he was finished, he walked over to Cloudyous and repeated the process, before finishing with Laurella and her ankle.

In the meantime, I took the opportunity to walk into the forge itself and look around. Then I saw it. An intricate golden hammer on a stand. I walked over and picked it up. A powerful feeling traveled up my arm and through my body, but I wasn't afraid, it was of the light.

Scorpious looked up from tending Laurella. "Do you have the malus, Chyemme?"

"What does it look like, paladin? It's only the big, shiny thing glowing in her hand like a torch," Piricus commented snidely from where he emerged.

"Yes, I have it," I affirmed, grasping the handle more firmly as if any minute the dead Smith might rise again and reach for it. I cast the corpse of the charred demon a weary glance, but when it remained still, I felt myself relax.

Vendra walked over, kicking the Smith's charred body on the way and saying a string of vulgar words to emphasize the point.

"That's real mature, sorceress," Piricus snickered.

"I don't care, you're not the one the damn bastard almost trampled," she spat.

"You're right, because I'm smarter than to go after someone who's a sitting duck on the ground," he retorted.

"Everyone survived, the demon died, and we got the malus. That's what matters," Maria said bluntly.

"No arguin' with that," Alminus said with a smile.

"The sisters will be glad to have this back," I affirmed, flexing the golden hammer in my hand. It was absolutely beautiful, it had flawless craftsmanship and many intricate runes of power etched along the sides and handle.

"My God, look at that thing. Every inch is solid gold," Ryelass said in amazement.

"You think it looks amazing, try holding it," I said with a smile.

"I'll bet. I trained as a blacksmith under Alminus' dad in harrogath, I could put that to good use while we're here at the forge," he offered.

"Do you honestly think you can use something that powerful, warrior?" Piricus said, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not? If Charsi can use it, so can I. I've got pretty much the same skill," Ryelass growled offended.

"The malus maybe not recognize you," Sovellis said knowledgably.

"Why not?" Ryelass repeated.

"Because sometimes objects as powerful as that are only in tune with certain people. They learn to recognize individuals and by that right, limit who can use them," Cloudyous " explained sagely.

"But, you'll never know until you try," Laurella said with an encouraging tone.

"That's true," Scorpious nodded. "If you think you can, Ryelass, why don't you try?"

"I will. Chyemme, can I have the malus, please?" he asked politely.

"Of course," I answered kindly and handed it to him.

"Right," he said as he retrieved his broken sword from beside the Smith's body. "This will only take a few minutes," he assured. "Especially since the forge is already hot and the metal prepared."

"Looks li' we got here jus' in time. They were gonna start usin' the malus," Alminus said gravely.

"Weapons maybe. But not with the malus. It's not tainted," I observed.

"Thank God," Maria said truthfully.

"Isn't that your line, paladin?" Piricus said coldly.

"Normally. But I have no issue in letting Maria's word suffice this time," Scorpious said with a smile.

"Hmph. All this," Piricus griped, "for a hammer."

"A GOLDEN hammer, jackass," Vendra said sarcastically. "But seriously though, I hope the sisters appreciate this thing."

"I assure you, it will be a boon to us all," Laurella said in gratitude.

"Let us hope," Scorpious agreed as I heard a hiss from the forge. I watched Ryelass as he quickly set about his trade in repairing his sword until at last it was the moment of truth. He raised the Horadric Malus and brought it down upon the blade.

There was a blinding flash of light and I shielded my eyes. I heard a grunt and a dull thud.

"Brilliant warrior! Make us all blind why don't you?" Piricus growled irritably from somewhere in the haze.

I expected Ryelass to retort, but he didn't and there was only silence, and that worried me.

Apparently it worried Alminus as well, because he shouted out in concern, "Ryelass! Ryelass say somethin' buddy!"

There was a loud groan from the floor as the light died. Ryelass sat up and rubbed his head. "Ow. . .what a whallop. . ."

"Ryelass!" Laurella squeaked. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," he said uncertainly, looking himself over.

"Where's the malus?" Maria said quickly, looking around sharply.

"Right here," Cloudyous said calmly as Belthem walked over to him, holding it in his mouth.

"Where's the sword?" Vendra asked, looking around.

"Right where he left it," Piricus said bluntly.

"Yur righ' 'bout that, but look," Alminus pointed out with a smile.

"Amazing. It worked," I said, smiling too.

"Look at weapon. It has feel of magic now," Sovellis pointed out.

"True, but just exactly what did it do?" Vendra asked, scanning the weapon over.

"It's nearly impossible to predict. Lord Cain said the magic is sporadic," Maria reminded.

"But, he also said that the magic is always good, so I wouldn't worry," Scorpious assured.

"Let's see," Ryelass said and carefully walked over and picked up his sword. He looked it over skeptically. "Well, nothing magical about that," he said.

"Swing it some, maybe it will," Laurella suggested.

"I was just thinking the same thing," he admitted. "Right," he said and gracefully flexed his sword.

The effects immediately became apparent, white-hot lightning dispatched from the tip and edges of the weapon and to our horror, right towards Piricus.

"PIRICUS WATCH OUT!" I shouted.

I saw a look of surprise on his face, then one of fury. Much to my shock and everyone else's in the blink of an eye the stray magic hit a wall of bone and bounced off.

"WARRIOR, I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!" he snarled. With his green eyes ablaze with hellfire once his shield dropped. Ryelass blinked, as did everyone else.

"How the hell did you just do that? You should be dead, jackass," Vendra said, stunned.

"I won't be killed so easily," he said darkly. "Hands off those, assassin unless you want to lose them," Piricus growled, immediately turning on Maria, whom I guessed out of reflex had grabbed her katars.

"Just who do you think you are?" Maria said dangerously.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he said with a cold laugh.

"Maybe," she continued, deadly quiet.

"Stop," Scorpious said sternly. "Maria he's done nothing wrong here. He just saved his own life with an amazing amount of skill," Scorpious said with an odd countenance. It looked to me that he too was still trying to register just exactly what Piricus had done and how quickly he had done it.

"Well, at least we know the hammer works," Laurella said quietly.

"Yes, it does. But given the fact that Ryelass got blasted backwards, it's be a fool's errand to tempt fate a second time. For the time being, the rest of our weapons will have to wait until we can get the hammer back to Charsi," Scorpious said with authority.

"Are you sure about that, paladin? What a shame. I wouldn't mind one bit if the warrior got himself blasted to bits after what he just pulled," Piricus growled, seething.

"That was an accident, Piricus. Calm down, you're fine," I assured.

"Amazon do you have any idea what you're talking about or who you're talking to?" he hissed.

"Yes, your highness," I retorted sarcastically. I expected Piricus to say something snide, but he suddenly got very quiet. Was it something I said? It must have been. I noticed Maria tense up and noted that she was watching Piricus very intently.

"You're right, Chyemme," Vendra began. "Piricus is royalty. A royal pain in the ass," she half-laughed, half-growled.

"We should get moving," Laurella ushered, "before more demons stumble upon us. My sisters have to be patrolling regularly. I know the way that will take us to Andariel. Lord Cain suspects, and I believe him to be correct, that the foul Queen is at the very deepest level of our monastery. It will be a rough descent, we have a long way to go and there will likely be demons every step of the way. The good news is, the cellar to the jail isn't far away. Let's go," she informed, and all of us regrouped, following the young archer into the dark corridors beyond.


	18. Chapter 18

-1AN: Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update, school got tremendously busy. Anyway, I wanted to hurry up and get this done because I've kept you all waiting for so long. Anyway this should be up at thanksgiving so happy holidays guys! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2. Blizzard Entertainment does.

Seeking the Spider Queen

Piricus

We followed the rogue down the hallways in silence, letting her lead us to the place the rogues kept their prisoners, the jail. We finally entered into a dead-end room with nothing so much as an old, wooden staircase leading down into darkness below.

"You'd think the demons would believe in a little bit of lighting," the sorceress said sarcastically as she eyed the shadows.

"If you're talking about the sisters, they are no longer human and likely no longer care," the assassin said plainly.

"What's the matter sorceress? Afraid of the dark?" I taunted.

"Only when I'm in it with you," she hissed.

"Don't start," the amazon said to us firmly. "I'll go first if it's that difficult," she offered.

"Aren't we brave?" I asked sarcastically.

"Not technically. I just know what's a ahead of me," she said simply. She closed her eyes for a moment, and then bright stars lit a trail down the stairs. "I don't see anything," she informed. "How about you, Laurella?" she asked.

The rogue closed her eyes too, taking a look.

"You shouldn't have a child second-guess you amazon, it makes you look bad," I pointed out.

"More than one set of eyes is more than likely going to be able to catch more traps," the assassin said coldly.

"Chyemme's right. I don't see anything down there, let's move down," the rogue assured.

Without really talking, we moved in procession down the stairs. I got halfway down them when the smell of death and decay reached my nose. As a necromancer, I was used to it by now, but it still sometimes made me wrinkle my nose. This was one of those times. My feet hit the bottom stair and I looked around. One of the key perks of being a necromancer is that you spend a lot of time in dark places, so your eyes become adjusted to the darkness fairly quick. My guess is that only myself and the assassin could physically see what was beyond the torchlight. It wasn't a pretty sight. There were jail cells all around the room, lining the walls, and all around them were the corpses of rogues, some bloody and maimed, some were burned, and others looked like they'd not been fed in years.

The amazon cringed as she looked around. "This place is eerie," she said, leery.

"Yeah, and it chills me to the bone," the sorceress said with a shiver, wrapping her cloak more tightly about herself.

"Ah, the slow torture of caged starvation," I said, taking a deep breath of the dark air.

"You're sick," the sorceress squeaked.

"You say that li' it's somethin' new," the barbarian said, bored with her comment.

"This is no place for a warrior to die," the paladin said quietly. "Let's get moving," he insisted.

I saw a grim resolution on the assassin's face and I was probably the only one who heard say under her breath, "Try and cage me, demons."

"I wouldn't worry assassin. With you I think death would be immediate. You're to dangerous to leave alive," I said harshly.

"I didn't ask you," she said briskly and walked up behind me.

"The hell you don't. Ladies first," I insisted rudely, grabbing her arm and shoving her in front of me. With the way she had been looking at me back with the Smith there was no way in hell I would allow her to walk behind me. Speaking of which, that had been a close call. Too close. If I displayed too much of my abilities that the others hadn't seen yet, the assassin would be sure to put me on her list of necromancer suspects. The grim thought occurred to me, that even if I was super careful, chances was this bitch was going to find out somehow and come after me anyway. I smirked inwardly though. Maybe running across her out here had been a blessing in a way. Now I could watch her, observe her mannerisms, and expose any weakness she might have. With any luck, I could turn the tables on her. I was beginning to think I already knew one of them, but it was too early to really tell for sure. But if I'm right, that would be a problem to expose, because it was a well-guarded weakness.

"Touch me again and I WILL kill you," she hissed.

"You'd try," I pointed out coldly.

"What's the problem back there?" the paladin called from ahead.

"Nothing, oh nosy one," I called back to him.

"It figures. Every single time someone has a problem three-fourths of the time, it's you," the warrior said irritably.

"Come up here, Maria," the paladin said calmly. "We could use your keen vision."

She did as she was told and soon, I was in the very rear of the group as we walked forward. The further we went, the more I thought the amazon was right. This place was eerie. Silent, dark, and eerie. We hadn't even encountered a single life form yet. We walked through a few hallways, more accurately, I should say, walk ways, there were no walls, only spaces between cells, and still nothing.

"How far do these cells extend?" the druid asked, looking around tensely.

"For three levels, we have two more halls to go before the entrance to the second level," the rogue answered.

"Why you need so many cells? I thought rogues an order of peace," the sorcerer asked.

"We are now, but we haven't always been this way. We had to fight to establish a home here many, many years ago, and these are the rogue lands, we police them as well as guard them. Lawbreakers had to go somewhere, as well as prisoners of war," the young rogue continued grimly.

"You treat your prisoners with the utmost compassion rogue," I said gesturing around. "Well done."

"Demons did this! Not I!" she hissed suddenly getting very defensive.

"Whoa, calm down little lady, nobody said ya did anythin' of the sort," the barbarian said soothingly.

"How could you even make that association!?" she almost shouted, getting emotional.

"People are monsters, rogue. Even more so than demons," I said truthfully.

"Shut up. Not everyone is an asshole like you," the warrior said nastily.

"It's just that I get so worked up! My sisters were good people! Good honest people! How could this have happened? It's not their fault!" she cried.

"Unfortunately, all of us had the choice whether to be good or evil. They chose corruption. They weren't as strong as you thought they were," the assassin said plainly.

"You didn't know them!" the rogue cried, with tears in her eyes.

"I don't have to know them to know the choices they've made," she persisted.

"Have faith, Laurella," the paladin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "There is always a chance at redemption for those that have fallen. The Lord is merciful and forgives mistakes," he said, disgustingly preachy.

"I think they've gone a little too far," the assassin said coldly.

The paladin locked his eyes on hers. "No one, I repeat no one, no matter how far they have fallen, should be refused a chance to redeem themselves. I have learned that there is hope, even in the darkest of places. Even in the blackness of night, the light of God can still shine through and strike sorrow into the hearts of those that have sinned. It is not to late for those that have fallen to regret their sins and repent," he insisted, firmly.

"They are under hold of one of hell's most powerful forces. That, and they're human. Humans are weak. The chances of demons repenting is next to zero. I don't see redemption for any of them other than death," the assassin said coldly.

"Maria . . . " the paladin said quietly, and I started laughing.

"Now the cat comes out of the bag! There is that merciless, trained killer that she actually is. Paladin, she doesn't give a damn about redemption, and frankly I don't blame her. I actually agree with her. They're lost rogue, just give up. The paladin just likes to spew idealistic nonsense that will end in failure," I said to the crying girl.

"It is nothing new for me not to be believed. I'll be the first one to admit that seeing is believing in this day in age. With that said, I will make it my duty to prove you all wrong. I will show you the power of faith and live by example as I have always done. You want to believe in them Laurella, and I think you should. And if what Maria has said has shaken you, then I simply ask you to trust in God, knowing that he will not lead you wrong. If he has instilled hope in your heart, then there is a reason. I will do what I can to keep your hope alive," the paladin vowed, and bowed before her. The rogue sniffled and hugged him.

The assassin watched this with an odd expression. "I think you're wrong, Scorpious. You're not being practical," she said quietly.

He looked at her from over the rogue's shoulder. "I'm a man of my word, Maria, you know that. I'm asking you to trust me. If you can do that, then I can show you that a little faith goes a long way," he insisted.

"You're asking a lot," she said simply, and sighed.

"You'd be an idiot to believe him assassin. This is a man that's likely killed hundreds in his precious little crusade," I said coldly.

"Like he said, seeing is believing. I believe in you, Scorpious. You've done nothing but amaze us so far. I look forward to seeing what you do next," the amazon said in his defense.

"Be quiet amazon, you're making me sick," I said rudely.

"I--" she didn't say anything else, the druid's mutt let out a loud howl, startling all of us. The wolf snarled and stepped in front of the druid, and the raven cawed loudly, flapping it's wings restlessly.

"ARROWS!" the druid shouted in alarm, translating the bestial hint the animals had just vocalized. True enough, I could hear them whizzing out of the darkness and soon they began to take the shape of speeding black blurs.

The paladin immediately turned the rogue in his arms around and shoved his shield out in front of both of them, just in time for the projectiles to hit and bounce off. The amazon similarly grabbed her huge round shield along with the barbarian and pulled them both behind it. The warrior used his shield too, and I conjured a bone shield, ordering all six of my remaining skeletons behind it also. The mages conjured frost armor and froze the arrows, and the druid grabbed the assassin and tossed cyclone armor in front of both of them, halting the arrows and sending them flying sideways. Another volley of arrows came at us before we even had time to move.

"Where are they coming from!?" The warrior shouted as he raised his shield even higher.

Bright stars lit the area as the rogue and amazon simultaneously cast inner sight. "Ahead and to the left, in one of the cells. There are four regular skeletal archers and a purple one. It looks like he's firing multiple shots. Half these arrows are his!" the amazon shouted.

"I'll see if I can hit him from here!" the rogue said aloud and swiftly leaned around the paladin's shield, firing a shot of her own. I watched as the skeleton saw the projectile, loaded it's bow and fired directly into the rogue's shot, splitting her arrow in two and then continuing towards us, becoming five different shots in the process. These five shots were followed by another four not long after. The arrows pelted out shields and although they did no damage, they prevented us from moving also.

"Who the hell's this guy?" I heard the sorceress shout.

"I heard about him from Kashya! This must be Dead Eye! She warned me that he's an expert archer, he killed quite a few of our retreating sisters! Shot them dead from behind!" she shouted.

"Well, let's move forward, we have shields, we should be fine!" the amazon insisted.

"Slow and easy!" the paladin shouted in concern, as slowly, bit by bit, we began moving forward.

"This is pathetic," I said with a growl and without waiting for anyone else, I made an opening in my shield and launched three teeth spells into the fray. The skeleton called Dead Eye tried to shoot through my magic, only to have it's ammo incinerated. The balls continued strait through the bars of the cell they were in, and collided with two of the five monsters, tumbling them to a useless heap in seconds.

The sorcerer and sorceress took my lead and momentarily relented their ice shields to cast two fireballs of magic that went strait through the bars as well, burning the two remaining archers dead. That only left Dead Eye, although he was proving a bit more difficult to kill. Both myself, and the two magi conjured magic, ready to finish this inferior creature off, but just before they hit, the monster teleported. I searched the room quickly, looking for the place that the creature would reappear and found it not long after. He was right behind us, and in so doing he had just exposed the amazon, barbarian, rogue, paladin, and warrior, whom still had their shields facing the spot he had previously been. He fired again, but cleverly, he seemed to know what he could and couldn't get too. He completely ignored the druid's cyclone shield, the two magi's ice shield, and my bone shield, and fired strait for the flesh of the rest of the party. One arrow as before, split into five, one aimed for each defenseless member.

The warrior was surprisingly quick on his feet. He turned immediately and instead of blocking, he yielded aside. Though the arrow did graze the side of his arm, it didn't really matter, his chain mail absorbed the shock.

The amazon and the barbarian almost tripped over each other trying to turn, seeing as they had been in close proximity behind the amazon's shield. Neither one of them had time to move, so in an act of sacrifice, the barbarian swiftly moved in front of her and two arrows struck him in the side. Blood began to leak out, but by my gaze it was barely a scratch. As a testament to his thick skin, the arrows had only gone in at the very tips.

The paladin and rogue experienced similar problems, and like the barbarian, the paladin stepped in front of the rogue and raised both armored hands up to cover his face and head, the only unarmored place on his body. He however, was wearing solid titanium plate, and like his shield, the arrows hit the metal and deflected off.

All three of us magi took the opportunity to take another strike. This time a ball of lightning, ice, and teeth spells flew at him. No good this time either, the skeleton saw it coming and teleported again, this time to the side.

"Alminus are you alright!?" the amazon asked in concern.

The large man grunted as he pulled the arrows out himself. "Jus' a tiny sting. Tha' was it, don' worry," he assured. "Loads better than they woulda done ter ya," he said truthfully.

"Thanks," she said in gratitude and immediately positioned the shield back in front of them just in time for another volley of arrows.

"Spread out in the room. Try and corner him!" the paladin shouted.

"Yeah, if he'll let us," the sorceress growled as she waved her hand, interlocking ice crystals in front of herself protectively.

"Sovellis, Vendra, can you teleport in the cell after him?" the rogue asked quickly.

"We can try," the sorcerer announced and with a nod to the sorceress both of them vanished and then reappeared next to the demon. Both of them grabbed at the creature to restrain him, but in a blink he was gone.

"What a pain in the ass!" the sorceress swore and scanned the room for the monster, which in an act of sheer gall, reappeared not four feet from them, behind them. The creature raised it's bow.

"VENDRA WATCH OUT!" the amazon shouted, but it was too late. The creature fired. The sorcerer was quick to act and as fast as he could, he grabbed her and yanked her back out of the way off all but one arrow. The sorceress gasped in pain as an arrow went strait into her shoulder.

The sorcerer didn't say a word, but he got a nasty look on his face. He said some words in his arcane language that I didn't recognize and blasted a shot of ice at the monster. I rolled my eyes, for that was about all the good that strike did.

The monster reappeared, this time right in the middle of the aisle in between the cells, right in front of us once more. This time, everyone that had a ranged weapon raised them, ready to strike wherever the creature appeared next. The monster fired, and so did we. Arrows pelted our shields and out of all of our attacks, only the rogue's arrow had managed to hit, but the arrow had gotten stuck between its ribs, therefore rendering it useless.

The monster, much to our frustration, teleported again, but this time the druid's bird apparently saw it before we did, or must have sensed where it was going to go, because the bird took off from behind the safety of the druid's shield, spiraled sideways through the cell bars and went head on with the monster when it reappeared. The bird was smart, I'll give it that. It went strait for the monster's bow ignoring the creature itself. The black bird snatched the shaft of the weapon in it's talons and began to shake fiercely and peck. The skeleton reached for an arrow to stab her with, but the bird promptly jammed its beak into the creature's glowing eye socket. I was surprised. Dead though this creature was, it still staggered backwards as if the druid's bird had bit flesh. It staggered back, and the bird succeeded in yanking its bow away.

"Here ya go, come out this way," the barbarian called to it, and using his massive brute strength, he grabbed the cell door and yanked it right off its hinges. The bird flew out the door, just as the skeleton teleported after it, trying to grab its weapon. The bird flew right back to the druid and dropped the weapon into his hands. The druid promptly took the weapon and broke it over his knee, throwing it to the ground with disgust.

"Now he has to physically come after us if it want to hurt us," the paladin announced and readied his sword.

"Not likely paladin. This one's got the air of cowardice about it. Block the exit or he'll come back with friends," I said snidely.

"He can't teleport through walls can he?" the warrior asked in alarm.

"Generally not. It's hard to teleport through solid matter," the sorceress groaned in misery as the sorcerer made to remove the arrow.

"Don't. We need to bandage that immediately after you pull it out," the paladin instructed, turning to them.

"Was no one listening to me?" I snapped as I watched the purple creature teleport and run strait for the door into the next hallway.

"I get him," the sorcerer assured and in a blink, he cut the retreating creature off. The demon tried to use an arrow as a dagger, but the tall man simply kicked the creature, with his long legs nearly leveling out to the creature's chest. The demon fell onto the floor and the sorcerer bashed its skull in with a loud shattering sound.

Once the creature was dead, the area fell silent again, save the sound of creaking hinges as the barbarian opened the door to let the injured sorceress through.

"Not a word, jackass," the sorceress hissed at me before I even opened my mouth. I went to say something snide, but the amazon cut me off.

"Are you alright, Vendra?" she asked.

"I got shot," she said sorely. "What the hell do you think?" she groaned miserably, holding her bleeding arm.

"You could have been killed, so tough up," the assassin said coldly.

The sorceress turned on her. "Easy for you to say. You don't feel anything, pain or otherwise, you---" she began.

"Stop," the paladin said right on cue. "Vendra I'll take a look at your shoulder, I promise it will be fine in a moment," he assured and set about to tending her.

Within moments, she was good as new, well almost, her attitude still remained unchanged, but the day she lost it, was the day I would admit that God exists.

"Just one more room after this one to the next level, you said, Laurella?" the warrior asked.

"Yes," she assured. "And I've already looked. There's nothing there," she assured.

"That doesn't mean there won't be," the assassin said plainly.

"Jus' stay on guard as usual. Anythin' can happen here now that we're in the belly of the beast," the barbarian said bluntly.

"Wow. You so needed to exercise your ten point IQ with that remark," I told him rudely, as I waved my fingers and all six of my skeletons clapped sarcastically.

"Those things r' creepy," he said, eyeing my skeletons in distain.

"One man's trash," I said simply.

"Let's get moving," the paladin insisted and took up his position at the rogue's side with the assassin on his left.

The next corridor was dark, like the last one, but, true to the rogue's word, there seemed to be nothing there. I saw the paladin go to put one foot onto the old staircase descending down, but then he froze. We all did. I swear I was having the worst case of deja `vu and just like a few days ago, we were all hearing ghostly wails.

"Oh shit. Where are they?!" the sorceress hissed and clenched her staff in a death grip.

"Give it a second, and they'll find us like last time," the assassin assured.

"This time let us handle it. Piricus, Cloudyous, Vendra and Sovellis, come to the center of the room," the paladin instructed.

"What's the matter paladin? Are you actually concerned for my safety? I can handle myself," I said with contempt, snapping my fingers and all six of my skeletons sprang to the ready.

"I have always been concerned for yours, and everyone else's," the paladin told me bluntly. "However, if you feel as if you would fare better without assistance then by all means go ahead. I can't promise you I'll be able to protect you when you're off doing your own thing and I have three other people behind me to worry about. Your choice," he said calmly.

I looked at him scathingly and called my skeletons to my side. "I'll take the risk," I hissed at him.

"Very well then. Sovellis, Cloudyous and Vendra, what about you?" he asked.

"You injured, Vendra. You not in top form. Let others protect you," the sorcerer pleaded with her.

"I can hold my own!" she insisted with fire. "I'm not weak," she hissed and gave the assassin a furtive glance out of the corner of her eye.

"No one said you were, but I implore you, please reconsider," the paladin urged.

"I will stand back and let you handle," the sorcerer said after considering to himself for a moment.

"What!?" the sorceress barked at him. "Don't tell me you're afraid, Sovellis!"

"That is pretty sad, sorcerer," I admitted.

"I not afraid, but I useless. I fight day before yesterday and lose big time. My magic and yours no work on them. It only make them stronger," he pointed out.

The sorceress sighed, realizing defeat. "You're right," she said sagging. "Okay, Scorpious have it your way," she said and her and her companion moved to the center of the room.

"Pity," I said, mocking her.

"Shut up," she growled.

"Cloudyous?" the paladin asked the druid, whom had also been a prime target last time.

The druid considered to himself a moment. "I think, now that I am aware of the danger ahead of me, I am more prepared and more apt to better deal with the battle this go round. That," he said with a smile, reaching up to his shoulder with one hand and down to his side with the other stroking the feathers and fur of his minions, "and I have my friends to protect me."

"Alright then. Everyone close in," the paladin ordered and I just started at him bluntly.

"What's the problem, Piricus?" he asked with a sigh.

"I'm not going to let you pack me into a fighting formation where I feel like a sardine. I need some space to fight in, and besides, I've already said my skeletons are here to protect me only, not as a shield for a cowardly mage," I said, glowering at the two of them.

"I'm going to kick your ass when this is over," the sorceress snarled at me.

"Don't hurt yourself hiding over there, sorceress," I sneered at her.

"Piricus," the amazon began, but about that time, a ghostly figure came flying through the left wall, followed by five more, and lastly, one that was a bright and sickly yellow.

"Oh great, they brought their leader," the warrior growled and stepped defensively in front of the sorceress. Likewise, the paladin stepped in front of the Sorcerer and the rest of the others closed in to form a circle around them, save for me. I immediately commanded my skeletons to make a ring around me. Then, as extra protection, I quickly conjured another clay golem, bringing my total minions to seven. Much to my surprise, even though I was off to the side, the monsters didn't all directly gun for me at once. One of them, a particularly big and glowing wraith did stray from the group in my direction, but overall, they seemed particularly drawn by the two magi in the center of the room.

The amazon threw a javelin that skewered one through the side of the head, dropping it instantly. The rogue took a similar action and shot one between the eye sockets, however, unlike the javelin, the arrow lacked four feet of back-up force and bounced harmlessly off.

The warrior was beside her in a flash and hacked with his sword, which bit into the sickly energy in the monster's wings. Much to my surprise, white fire erupted from it, along with lightning. I guessed the paladin's blessing spell had held, even though the weapon had broken. The lightning was absorbed into the creature's wings, expanding them, but like last time, the white fire cut like a blade should and destroyed the creature.

One charged the paladin and like a true zealot, he hacked the thing into a thousand pieces, spraying white fire like rain water. I watched as one got too close to the assassin. She nodded her head at the creature and it flew a good ways backward. Once there was a good enough distance between the two of them she ran, somersaulted over it, and sliced it's head clean off mid-air, landing cleanly on her feet as it's head rolled onto the floor. She certainly was flexible. That much was sure.

I watched as the big wraith came flying strait for me, only to be met by a punch in the face from my golem. Temporarily stunned, two of my skeletons charged the thing and hacked at its wings. Being dead, and being animated by will ,the energy-absorbing properties of the wraith's wings were rendered useless against my minions and their bone axes proved more than a match for the wing bones of the wraith. They snapped and the thing fluttered helplessly to the ground, where another of my six ran forward, with axe held high and cleaved the wraith's head clear off its axis.

This left only one and the yellow, lead monster to contend with. The druid carefully gauged the distance between himself and the wraith that was moving in to attack him. He took careful aim and then blasted a jet of icy wind at the monster. Being made of wind and not of mana, the blast hit the creature and knocked it back, and I saw icicles form on it's wings. The creature's bones began to freeze and it stiffened, but continued forward. With the wings hard and brittle the rogue turned around and lit on of her arrows on fire, dispatching it against the beast. The arrow hit and exploded, shattering the creature into bone chips and dust.

I watched as everyone turned their attention to the yellow monster, it was closest to the paladin and gaining ground fast. The paladin remained unmoved and as the creature approached he swung his sword, aimed right for it's skull. White fire flowed off the weapon as it made contact but to my surprise and everyone else's, the strike hit and glanced off like the creature was made of steel, and even the white fire flickered and died.

"What the hell?" the barbarian cursed. "Let me try," he growled, and ran at the creature, slamming his axe into it's side. The strike glanced off harmlessly, and instead, the monster turned and bit down on the weapon. Sickly yellow energy climbed up the weapon, but to his credit, the barbarian realized what was happening. Maybe he had been paying attention to them when they attacked us the first time a few days ago. I saw a flicker of hesitation, before he quickly dropped the weapon to the ground before the glow could touch him. Unarmed and outmatched, the barbarian had the good sense to back off just as the warrior ran forward and tried his hand. He didn't have much better luck than the paladin. In fact, the creature slammed itself into his shield and before he knew what hit him, the warrior was completely enveloped in the demonic glow. I could feel his mana draining from here. Though, to his credit, he didn't scream I could clearly see pain written all over his face.

"Let go of him!" the rogue shouted and grabbed at the amazon's arm, urging her to help. Both women lit up the creature like a sun with their inner sight, hoping to weaken it's defenses, before they attacked together, though just with plain weapons. The arrow and javelin spiraled together into the creature, but as they hit, the arrow broke and the javelin bounced off.

"This isn't working! It has stone skin!" the druid shouted.

"What are we going to do?! We can't attack it with magic! Somebody do something!" the sorceress shouted, watching the warrior with horror.

The paladin scowled, then conjured a bolt of white fire in his hand and tossed it at the creature, followed by another, then another, and then another. All four of the flaming white projectiles hit the creature in the side, and each knocked it sideways as if he were hitting it with a hammer. The creature was blindsided and knocked off of it's attack on the warrior, but other than that, the attacks did no damage whatsoever.

"Ryelass! Are you alright?" the rogue asked as she ran up to him, helping him up to his feet.

"I'll live," he said bluntly as he straitened himself out.

The creature regained itself and headed back on the offensive, this time aimed directly for the two magi in the center of the room. It barreled past the assassin and the amazon, whom had both jumped in the way, knocking them over.

"Shit!" the sorceress growled and she and the mage started backing up until at last they had nowhere to go. "I don't care if it's immune to magic, I'm going to blast it!" she yelled. "There's nothing else I can do!" she finished desperately.

"One of you blast it with the strongest ice spell you have and then the other hit it with a fire spell!" the druid shouted. "In nature heating and thawing wears cracks in rocks!"

"You got it. I do ice," the sorcerer assured and without hesitation, he blasted a jet of ice directly into the front of the creature. The ice stiffened it, but then the energy was absorbed into its wings. Likewise, the sorceress sprayed a jet of inferno in its face, which seemed to flow into the creature's wings without doing damage.

"Try it again!" the druid insisted and both repeated the process, seemingly only to have the creature become even stronger.

"Druid you're making things worse!" I shouted at him as I watched the demon lunge for the two magi. The sorcerer threw himself in front of the injured sorceress and received a bite from the creature full in the arm. I was being to see history repeat itself as the creature started leeching his mana and he began to scream in pain. But, unlike last time, the sorcerer was still casting, he was using the direct contact with the creature to freeze the thing solid. To my surprise it seemed to be having some effect. The more and more ice energy the creature absorbed, the heavier it's wings were becoming until at last the energy crystallized and it's wings became masses of solid matter, too heavy to support flight. The creature dropped to the ground, letting go of the sorcerer's arm, but it still didn't die. The sorceress leaned forward and caught her companion as he fell backward, and then with one hand, she blasted a jet of fire into the creature's face, melting it's wings. The grounded monster lunged for them both from the ground, but the sorceress seized the moment to bash the thing with everything she had with her staff in her free hand. Then, just like that, the bone was brittle and shattered into pieces when the staff made impact. The sorceress helped her companion to the floor, sitting him against the wall.

"Drink this," she said, giving him a blue potion from her pouch, which he took with some effort and managed to drink. He instantly became more alert and sighed heavily.

"You trouble, you know that?" he said, although playfully.

"All women are trouble. So much so in fact I'm beginning to think that most of them are useless," I said giving the sorceress a scathing look. "We know one is, for sure," I said, aimed at her.

"I'm going to kick your ass, he just saved me, don't you dare mock him! I'd bet my life that other than your skeletons you don't have anyone that would be willing to do that for you," she hissed.

"Then you'd be dead wrong," I laughed. "Don't you listen to your precious paladin?"

"I don't think he'd help you if your negligence lead to the death of someone else," she spat in fury.

"I don't really care if people are willing to die for me or not, it's their life. But, it doesn't really matter, because I'll never be in a situation I need someone to," I said coldly.

"You can pray that, anyway," she hissed. And took to tending her injured friend. She took a bandage from her pack and wrapped it gingerly around his bleeding arm.

"I can fix that," the paladin offered.

"No need. I fine," the tall, dark mage assured.

"Thank God," the sorceress said quietly, and helped him to his feet.

"Are you ready to continue?" the paladin asked them.

"Yes. Hey, what's this thing?" the sorceress asked, picking up a small slab at her feet.

"Looks like a charm," the druid said, looking it over.

"What does it do?" she asked, eyeing it untrustingly.

"I'm not really sure. Lord Cain would know though," he answered.

"I wouldn't trust it, it doesn't feel quite right to me," the amazon said wearily.

"My guess is that it came from the demon's body. That was what was giving it its stone skin," the assassin assessed.

"What was this thing called, anyway?" the sorceress asked, looking at the broken corpse of the demon.

"Dragon Head the Unholy is what it called itself," I said bluntly.

She looked up at me confused. "How the hell would you know. Wait-- are you telling me you can actually understand the noises and things these things make? That they TALK to you?" she said incredulously.

"I wouldn't expect you to know, since you're so dimwitted, but the language of the dead is a language the same as any other. I can read their sounds and signs just like the druid reads his animals," I explained with an impatient tone.

"That's really disturbing," she said with a shiver.

"What kinds of things do they say?" the amazon asked quietly.

"More than likely they are dark and tortured statements. I don't wish for you to explain this matter any further. This method of communication with the darkness borders on evil," the paladin said, clearly uncomfortable.

"Death is not evil, paladin," I said to him bluntly.

"No, but these creatures are. I don't want you conversing with them, they do horrible things to the mind," he said crisply.

"Don't tell me what to do, paladin, I do what I want," I growled at him. "For the record, I consider them my enemies just the same as you. I don't fraternize with my enemies, I kill them," I said icily," and you'd do well to remember that."

"Just because you can understand something doesn't make you evil," the amazon said, sticking up for me, which surprised me some.

"No. But some knowledge is dangerous and this kind is one of them," the assassin said tensely. "I'd watch myself if I were you, Piricus. If you're not careful with these things then it's not only assassins or paladins that you have to worry about. You'll be hunted by far worse."

"I know what I'm doing, I'm not a child, assassin, and if you insist on treating me like one you'll be in for a very unpleasant surprise," I threatened, meaning every word.

"With you, nothing is ever a pleasant surprise," the sorceress growled.

"Speakin' of unpleasant surprises, Chyemme, Laurella, wha's down them stairs?" the barbarian asked, looking into the darkness below.

"Nothing," they answered together.

"However," the rogue began, "this next level of the jail is where one of the misshapen leaders wanders. He's Andariel's lead hell-hound, Pitspawn Foul Dog," she continued.

"What can you tell us about him?" the paladin asked.

"He's got power over ice, so he'll freeze you if you touch him. And it's rumored that Andariel's put a powerful curse on him too. One that will leech the strength right out of you," she informed.

"A weaken curse," I muttered.

"That should be no problem. God takes what's weak and makes it strong. I have an aura that will nullify the effects of such a curse," the paladin exclaimed righteously.

"Any guesses, Piricus?" the sorceress asked rudely.

"Might aura," I said with disgust, knowing instinctively. I knew paladin magic like the back of my hand, knowing your enemy was just as essential as knowing yourself.

"Right you are," the paladin said with a nod. "Laurella I trust you know the quickest way to the next staircase?"

"Yes. But I have to warn you, it's all the way across the level. We'll have to walk through some hallways and a couple of rooms to get there," she explained.

"Let's get moving then," the assassin said, and stepping beside the rogue, she disappeared down the staircase. Everyone reached the bottom without incident, and all was quiet. Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like the further down we went, the thicker and stiffer the air became. It was almost like you were physically breathing in evil.

"I feel like I'm suffocating in darkness," the sorceress said uneasily. Maybe it wasn't just me.

"It's only going to get worse," the assassin said darkly, as we followed the rogue into the bleakness. We walked through several hallways without anything significant happening, although we were all on high alert. The rogue paused at the entranceway to a closed door. She and the amazon looked at each other.

"There are twenty skeletons in the next room," the amazon informed us.

"See anyone that looks unusual?" the warrior asked intently.

"No. There are a lot of them, but they all look and feel normal," she continued.

"Okay then. In we go," the warrior said and walked up to the door, grabbed the handle and stormed in through the now open doorway. I could hear the creaking of bones and I heard the faint whispers that the skeletons made. They had been startled, but they are emotionless, so it wasn't saying much.

The paladin stormed in after the warrior and I shouted at him nastily, "DON'T YOU DARE PUT YOUR SANCTUARY AURA ON PALADIN! IF EVEN ONE OF MY MINIONS DIE I'LL USE YOU AS A REPLACEMENT!"

I heard him sigh. "Then get in here and make it so I don't have to use it," he called back, though far more polite than I had been.

"Go," I told my golem, and it lumbered through the door, leaving wet, clay footprints as it went. "You three also," I said, jerking my thumb at the three skeletons in front of me. They didn't question me in the slightest, a factor I loved about them, and they simply just went. I could hear the sounds of them clashing with their enemies in the next room. The amazon and the assassin went in next, followed by the barbarian and then the magi and then myself and the rogue last.

The battle was half over by the time I put my foot in the door. The paladin and the warrior were sweeping across the room practically unchallenged as white fire cleaved a path through our enemies like a hot knife through butter. Though, I was pleased to see that my skeletons and golem were the other half of our success. Judging by the pile of bones around them, they had killed at least five of the skeletons. There were only three more left before long, and two had rushed the amazon. She quickly slammed her body into the one on the right, knocking it away from her and putting distance between her and the one on the left. The skeleton stumbled back directly into the path of the barbarian, whom savagely hacked it in half with his gargantuan axe. Being left with only to one to contend, the amazon turned and parried an axe blow with her javelin horizontally over her head. She kneed the creature, catching it right under the ribcage and breaking off some of its ribs. Being undead, the creature didn't really feel pain, so it was only a minor thing at best. However she brought her javelin down horizontally, smashing it into the creature's arms. The old, brittle bone popped off without much effort. She then refolded the spear in her hands and stabbed the creature through the neck, killing it.

This left only one skeleton, and the druid's wolf had set upon it while the rest of us had been preoccupied. The mutt savagely ripped into the creature, tearing its limbs off until only a flailing trunk and head remained. The druid swiftly walked over and smashed the thing into oblivion.

Once the room was clear, we regrouped and headed into the next set of hallways. We walked through several empty rooms, and then came into a small one, where the rogue paused.

"What's wrong?" the amazon asked her.

"Beyond this door there really aren't any places to seek cover. We will be in the open until we reach the stairs to the third level of the jail. Be on your guard," she warned.

"More room to fight and more room to see what's coming," the warrior said with enthusiasm.

"Warrior, everyone here but the assassin and myself is blind as a mole in the dark. You wouldn't be able to see anything coming if it was three feet in front of you," I remarked snidely.

"That's why we're here, to light the way," the amazon assured. "I've already checked the space beyond here, there's nothing."

"I agree," the rogue added.

"Well then, let's not delay," the paladin said and opened the door, stepping out into the open room beyond. This particular room was very odd, it had four sides of caging, but they didn't connect. It looked like a cross of iron that one could walk through. In the middle however, was what looked like a water fountain or a marble-esque group of statues. I didn't pay them any heed and neither did anyone else. We walked through the center of the "cross", headed to the other side of the room, where we could see the shadows of the stair case. I was caught unaware by a scream from behind and I saw a flash of light.

The sorceress' robes had caught fire somehow and she was folding her sleeve desperately to put it out. The sorcerer conjured a spray of ice and cast it on the fire, which melted into water and put it out, but I didn't have time to dwell on the matter. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the statues actually open its mouth and spit out a large fireball in my direction. There were four statues, and suddenly fireballs were spraying in all directions.

"Gargoyle traps!" the assassin hissed.

"How the hell did the two of you happen to miss those?" I snapped at the amazon and the rogue as I did a rolling dive onto the floor to avoid being hit by three fireballs that whizzed by. Unfortunately, my skeletons may have been absolutely loyal, but they absolutely were not very bright. Two of the fireballs hit two of them and combusted them and the third hit the arm of my golem and baked it solid. The golem made to move its arm, and it fell off.

"Damn it!" I cursed, that was not an injury it could simply shake off, it was almost useless now. "Get your ass over there and destroy those things!" I barked at it. The golem lumbered forward obediently, but I commanded my four remaining skeletons to stay back.

"They weren't alive!" the amazon called from somewhere to the right. "I can only sense things that are alive!"

"Assassin there was no excuse for you to miss those," I scowled.

She either didn't hear me, or didn't answer me, because she was busy dodging fireballs. In a matter of seconds, things went from bad to worse. I could see a supernatural glow coming from around the corner and within seconds a band of hideous misshapen came thundering towards us, one of which sprayed ice on the ground as it went. Great. There was Andariel's hellhound.

"Misshapen!" the rogue shouted, alerting everyone else to their presence.

And then, things went from worse directly to hell. I heard a door open on the other side of the large room and then a large army of fallen and three shamans rushed in. In the confusion, no one was forming a battle strategy, even the paladin. Everyone was far too busy dodging deadly projectiles.

The barbarian had made it to the center of the room with only singe marks on his skin and was hacking wildly with his great axe, trying to break the traps apart, but he was having no luck. Chips of marble were flying, but not much else. I heard him curse as a chip also flew strait out of his axe.

"You can't break those they're made of stone! Get away from there!" the rogue shouted in alarm.

"I gotta try somethin!" the barbarian shouted desperately and then he turned to one of the statues and grabbed it, pulling with all his might. After moments he hadn't budged it in the slightest and he was millimeters away from getting sprayed in the face by the fireball that whizzed strait past him. Fire soon wasn't his only problem. The ice monster, Pit Spawn Foul Dog, lunged strait for him and tackled him. The barbarian fell onto his back on the ground, grasping the thing by the throat, trying desperately to push the attacking monster off. However, I knew despite from being told earlier, that the creature was cursed, I could feel it's sickly aura from here. An aura, that was draining the barbarian's strength by the second. That, and the icy mist from the monster was traveling up his arms, freezing him in place. The rest of the monstrous pack could sense his desperation and closed in.

"ALMINUS!" the warrior yelled in horror as he shoved his shield out to deflect a fireball and ran towards the monsters without a second thought. The warrior could only get to the outer-most ring of enemies and he didn't waste time plunging his blade into the back of the misshapen nearest him. The creature reared in pain and then it and a friend turned to attack him. That still left four monsters and the leader.

"SCORPIOUS!" the rogue shouted in terror, drawing the paladin's attention from where he had ducked onto the ground to avoid the fireballs that were still spraying all over creation.

The paladin took one look at the situation and immediately began praying. Within moments, a bright, pulsating golden ring of energy wrapped all of us, save for my golem and my skeletons. I felt an unexplained strength ripple through my muscles, like somehow I had suddenly become twice as strong as before. It was a warm feeling and completely unwelcome to me. I hated foreign magic to be worked on me, it made me feel vulnerable. There had to be a way to turn his disgusting sorcery off.

"Take this abomination off of me paladin, I don't want it!" I shouted.

"That takes too much concentration for me to exclude just one person. Live with it, Piricus and except the grace of God!" the yelled as he too plunged headlong into the crowd of misshapen in an attempt to get to the barbarian. I ducked swiftly as a fireball flew over head and jumped aside as another almost broadsided me. In the meantime, I seemed to be the only one that realized a small army of fallen and their leaders were charging us from the side. The three shamans only added more fire to the mix, casting it from their staves.

"Oh no, don't mind the small army that's going to sandwich us together," I cursed under my breath. My golem had just reached the traps and was slinging its muddy fist at them, with no effect. Screw it, I decided and ordered my creature back to me in preparation for the attack that was imminent. I cast a bone shield around myself and ordered my skeletons in front of me towards my attackers. The druid seemed to at least be concerned about them, because after ducking a fireball that nearly caught his head on fire, summoned cyclone armor around himself and then threw his hands up in the air. Before I knew it, flaming stones started falling from the ceiling, pummeling the entourage of demons. Several caught flame and fell to the ground, but several more dodged and ran by unscathed.

"A little help here!" the druid called as a group of fifteen fallen swarmed his position.

The sorceress turned from where she had been casting at the misshapen and her eyes widened, "Shit!" she cursed as she surveyed for the first time the third part of our problem. She flung her arm out strait forward in a line, and as she did a wall of fire erupted in front of the druid, cutting off the assault. A few of the fallen tried to cross the inferno, and were instantly charred to death. I watched as a fireball whizzed by the sorceress. She jumped back, right into the path of another. The druid was quick on his feet and tackled her to the ground. The fireball hit his whirling shield and dissipated into nothing.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I landed on my bad shoulder," she hissed," but I'm better than Alminus!"

This turned my attention back to the shouting barbarian. He was back to normal strength with the help of the paladin's aura, but he was still losing the battle while his muscles were slowly freezing to inaction.

The amazon and the paladin had each pulled a misshapen out of the herd, leaving two more. The assassin hastily jumped in, grabbing one. The druid made to help them, but the sorceress stopped him.

"That wall isn't going to hold forever, let's all strike from a distance while we can," she planned as the druid's spell ceased. "Sovellis! Laurella! Piricus," she said hissing the last word. "Help us take them down!"

"Don't give me orders, sorceress!" I snapped.

"If you don't help me, I'll throw you to the other side of the wall," she hissed.

"You're not strong enough," I laughed cruelly, but I did what she asked me to, it was better than standing around, which was making me bored.

"Belthem! Bibo! Take out that misshapen that's left!" the druid urged and without a thought, the two animals rushed into the fray and the wolf tackled a lumpy monster, while the raven flew into it's face, raking with its talons. I commanded my skeletons to go after the same monster, there was no way a mutt and a bird could kill something that big. Not to mention, I wouldn't let the druid mock me about my creatures being inferior. With that settled, I turned my attention back to the line we were forming behind the sorceress' fire wall. All of us conjured magic or notched an arrow and fired at the closest targets there were. Our first volley hit and killed five fallen, but that still left about fifteen more, which all scattered to the four winds, making them ten times harder to hit.

"This isn't working!" the sorceress hissed. "Sovellis, let's call a blizzard and force them back together," she announced. "Then you guys take them out," she furthered.

"Brilliant, sorceress but you forgot the most important thing," I said sarcastically and with distain. She gave me an odd look.

"Necromancy!" I hissed and pointed as those three damn shamans just resurrected all the minions we had just killed. It was at that moment, the fire wall gave out and all thirty of the little monsters rushed us.

"This is why I don't follow other people's orders!" I snapped, "because you're all incompetent! Obviously I have to do everything myself," I griped, and without another word, I felt for the death energies of this place, I didn't have to search far, and conjured a ring of bone around our adversaries, corralling them neatly together. This left us a clear shot at the shamans as the fallen struggled to break free of the bone cage.

The rogue took expert aim, and launched an arrow that soared through the air and killed one of them, but she was soon screaming in pain as a fireball hit her leg and dropped her to the floor.

"Laurella!" the druid cried in alarm and raced to her side, wrapping her up in cycling winds. She was severely hurt from the looks of it, part of her flesh had peeled away and she was bleeding a good amount. Her and the sorceress. They always had a way of getting injured at the worse possible time, and it was pissing me off. Now we only had three people left to deal with the army that was rattling my bone cage, about to break through. I didn't give the injured girl another thought. I called my mana forward and launched a series of teeth spells all in a horizontal line, giving the shaman no place to go. The energy ate holes through its body and killed it, and I heard a loud crack as a couple of fire balls hit the back of my bone shield and blasted chips out of it. It still held, but a few more direct hits and it might crumble.

The sorcerer stayed focused, even with the injury of his friend and he fired a jet of lightening that fried the final shaman.

"Here, take her," the druid commanded to the sorceress and raced forward back into our formation. "I have just the thing to take them out quickly." He raised his hands and then the stone tiles of the floor began rising and then rolling together, and then they melted, into a molten mass of rocky magma, which the druid dispatched at the bone cage. It rolled along so slowly that I thought for a second that it might stop, but at last it hit the bone cage, melted the bones and then slaughtered all of the miniature demons within it.

The sorceress turned around just in time to cast frost armor and throw herself in front of the sorcerer, whom was about to get hit by two fireballs still flying from those infernal gargoyle traps. The fire hit the ice and instantly died. With that threat gone, we turned our attention to the others. The warrior had killed one of his opponents, and was seconds away from finishing his last one, it had gouge marks and slashes all over it's head and face. I saw with pride one of my skeletons deliver the final blow to the creature it had been contending with. I also noted sourly though, that one of them had been destroyed. Well, if it was any consolation, the druid's mutt looked pretty bandaged up, it had a deep scratch on its side from where it had been gored by the creature's tusks. The assassin was still struggling with her monster, her blades seemed only to be piercing superficially. She growled loudly and I watched as ice formed around her blades. She quickly thrust them into the creature's neck and ice began creeping up the demon's hair. Then, having sensitized the skin, the assassin pulled back, and with no small amount of help from the paladin's aura she slammed her katars into the creature, severing it's head instantly.

The amazon was already finished with her monster and was rushing to the barbarian, whose arms were turning blue. She was hindered in her progress however as she had to cartwheel aside to avoid a string of fire balls from the traps. I watched as the paladin impaled his monster under the jaw, and with his aura it went strait through the top of the monster's head. He had a little trouble dislodging his blade, and I saw him relinquish the weapon all together so that he could drop to the floor and avoid being hit by more fireballs. I heard a mighty roar and watched in amazement as the barbarian timed it just right and used the last of his strength to shove his legs under the monster and hoist it up right into the path of a stream of fireballs. The flaming projectiles hit the creature and it howled in pain and scuttled backwards. The barbarian fell completely limp as the freezing paralysis took hold. The creature readied for another offensive, but the paladin jumped in the way. Using his might aura, he hacked at the creature, combating it's curse and managed to cause significant trauma to it's head and face, but it wasn't enough to kill the creature. I guess the amazon had had just about enough of all of this, because she ordered the paladin back and them sent an electrified javelin right into the creature's nose. The charge carried up and into it's whole body, especially from the melted water on it's fur from where the fire had hit ice. Within moments, it electrocuted to death.

"Damn these things," the assassin muttered sourly, eyeing the traps and dodging a fireball. "Scorpious pull Alminus clear," she commanded and once the paladin had done her biding, she pulled out a fulminating fire bomb and tossed it between the four statues. A deafening and brilliant explosion took place, sending bits of marble flying everywhere and completely demolishing the traps. Silence fell and there were only the sounds of the shivering barbarian and the injured rogue.

"Alminus! Laurella!" the warrior cried in alarm, clearly not knowing which one to run to first.

The assassin knelt down and examined the barbarian. "Alminus, can you hear me?" she asked plainly.

The large man chattered his teeth and grunted, but she nodded. "Good. Then this is reversible," she said and took out a pale yellow potion from her belt.

"This is a thawing potion, open your mouth as best you can," the assassin instructed. The large man grumbled and then strained greatly to open his mouth. At last he got it open about an inch.

"Good enough. This is a liquid so it doesn't have to be chewed," the assassin assured and poured the liquid through the tiny opening into the man's mouth. Within seconds, the blue hue of his skin disappeared and his limbs loosened up. He sat up and groaned.

"Damn. I've never been so cold! And I live 'n the North!" he swore.

"Are you alright?" the warrior asked in concern.

"Yeah. Thanks, Maria. Say, wha' happened to Laurella?" he asked in alarm.

"She was slow as molasses in wintertime and got hit by a fireball," I explained.

"Somehow I wish you had taken her place," the warrior hissed and swiftly made his way over to her.

She was struggling with some help from the druid to stand. He had managed to staunch the wound, but she was still in obvious pain. The paladin rushed to her side.

"I'll get right on this," he assured, "bear with me, I know this is painful," he apologized and began healing her with his aura and prayers. After a few moments of tears and pained outcries, the rogue could stand on her own feet again and was sturdy enough to walk.

"Alrigh' there, little lady?" the barbarian asked her, and she nodded.

"Good. Just let me wrap up Belthem's side first and then we should be good to go," the druid announced.

"Not quite. You're useless," I muttered to my golem and with a wave of my hand, destroyed it.

"Is that reward for loyalty?" the sorcerer asked in distain.

"I don't keep things around me that are useless. Tends to lead to trouble," I said coldly.

"But it was a living thing! How can you just take a life like that?" the rogue asked me in alarm.

"I create life, and I take it away. That's part of my power and my right," I said eyeing the paladin sinisterly.

He took offense to that statement, just like I thought he would. "You're not God, Piricus. None but he have that right! As for giving life, undeath is not true life! I hardly call no free will or emotion life," he frowned.

"Then you should have no problem with me putting my creatures down, if they aren't alive," I said plainly.

"I don't, in fact, I think they should all be put down. They are ALL abominations in the eyes of the Lord," he growled.

"Let's not get into that here," the amazon said quickly. "The stairs are right there, we should go before anything else happens."

"Ya, I'm with 'er," the barbarian said truthfully, with that, we walked to the stairs and went down.

Almost immediately, I began to hear whispers, the calling of the undead. They hungered for flesh, so they could only be one thing. Zombies, or more precisely, this variety, I could tell by the strength of their voices and their energies, that these were ghouls. The paladin heard them too and he instinctively drew his sword.

"We're surrounded by the undead," he said in distain.

"What? Where? I don't see anything," the sorceress said bluntly.

"They're all by the walls," the assassin said with a hiss and readied her katars.

"By undead, do you mean zombies?" the sorceress squeaked in disgust.

"No, he's talking about ponies that children ride," I said sarcastically.

"These aren't just zombies, Vendra," the paladin began.

"They're ghouls. Which makes them far stronger and far faster," I finished for him.

"We need some light 'n here," the barbarian growled.

"On it," the amazon said and in a moment, bright stars lit the area, only to reveal dead, decaying, and putrid zombies. These had been dead so long, their flesh had turned blue.

"Braiinnnnsssss . . . ." came the eerie, ominous rumble from one of the deceased.

"These talk! Shut up! Shut up you vile thing!" the sorceress screeched and without another word she launched a fireball right into the creature's abdomen. The fire hit, singed and then faded.

"What the hell was that? Why didn't it burn?" the warrior hissed as he watched the scene.

"Somehow, their flesh is still moist. It will repel fire," the assassin said gravely.

"Regular fire. These abominations are no match for the righteous power of God," the paladin said with conviction.

"If fire not work then what do?" the sorcerer asked, immediately becoming uneasy after watching the magical failure of his companion.

"Ice. It will freeze the fluid left in their bodies, crystallizing them. Break them apart immediately after that and burn the pieces," the assassin announced.

"Burn the pieces?" the rogue asked in confusion.

"If you don't they can still move. The flesh of these things is animated down to the last toe and sometimes, you'll be amazed at what even the slightest necromancy can pull together," I said with knowledge.

"Creepy! God I hate these things! I--" the sorceress began but in a blink a zombie, sensing her unease ran, not walked, but ran up to her and tried to take a bite out of her. She had just enough time to get her staff up in front of her as the creature bit down hard.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, sorceress. Don't get bit by one of these, their mouths fester with some of the worse plagues imaginable," I remarked casually.

"Stop kidding around like that, Piricus, it's not funny," the warrior shot back icily.

"He's not playing. These things are diseased. I have never seen horror as much as the illness these monstrosities cause. I am an experienced healer and even I have had trouble curing such an ailment," the paladin said with disgust.

"What he means to say is, often times, he couldn't save who ever it was that needed help," I translated, reading the look on the holy man's face.

"Get off me!" the sorceress screeched and shoved back hard on her staff, but the creature didn't go very far. Seemingly egged on by the sorceress' distressed shouting the rest of the unholy batch moved in on the offensive.

The rogue notched her bow and made to shoot with ice on her arrow, but the creature proved too quick for her and overpowered her, knocking her to the ground. It grabbed her with dead, rotting hands and made to pull her into it, but the paladin was alive with holy vengeance.

He ran over and swung the full length of his sword into the creature's side, and then used his shield to bash the creature away from the rogue. White fire flashed, lighting up the surrounding area even more, enough for me to see that there were nine zombies, not including the one the paladin was fighting. I could hear the anguished moaning of the ghoul as the white fire engulfed it and I could also hear the tormented screams that it cried in the language of the dead. I felt no pity for the thing whatsoever. As the paladin helped the rogue to her feet, one of the ghouls rushed the assassin.

She however, was well on her guard, and in a lightening fast motion, she yielded aside, grabbed the creature's decrepit arm and pulled it onto one of her ice-charged blades. Blue mist rippled up the creature's body and soon the monster became encased in a sheet of thick blue ice. The assassin savagely kicked the monster apart and then, charged her katars with fire, lighting the corpse aflame.

Meanwhile the sorceress had found just enough space to cast an ice armor around herself. The undead plague-bearer charged again, but became entrapped in a matrix of crystals. It froze solid and then the sorceress conjured a fireball, shattering the ice and charring the remains.

She turned around just in time to blast a jet of ice into the monster charging the barbarian. Once it froze, he hacked it to pieces and the sorceress set it ablaze.

One of the creatures went after the druid and his mutt went to bite it and was promptly halted by the druid, whom scruffed it and yanked it back. He said something to the wolf that I couldn't hear, but the animal backed down immediately. The druid called the whirling winds to his aid and an icy breeze drafted though the area, onto his hands and then from them, freezing the ghoul. He shattered the creature with his club and then the paladin came over and sliced the remains with his sword, which caught blaze in an ivory glory.

The rogue came to the aid of the amazon, whom was swinging to keep two of them out of her personal space. The rogue imbued one of her arrows with ice and then fired expertly into the back of one's head. The ice spread down it's body and froze it, then she emblazoned an arrow with fire and burnt it. This left the amazon with one. She charged her javelin with lightning and found time to duck behind her round shield as the monster snapped its jaws. She leaned around her massive blockade and stabbed the creature in the gut, channeling lightening through it's body. The undead spasmed and dropped to the ground, where the rogue shot it full of fire arrows.

The sorcerer cast an ice spire into a ghoul that was storming the paladin from behind, freezing it, and then in a similar manner to the sorceress he toasted it.

The warrior hacked at one of the two remaining monsters that had charged him. Lightning and white fire arched off his sword, destroying the ghoul before him. He turned around just in time to throw his arm up in front of his face, which received a nasty bite. Everyone save me held their breath as the warrior punched the creature in the face, knocking it back, then ran it through, scorching it under white fire and lightning. Once it was dead, he shook his arm and checked it over.

"Did it get you?" the rogue asked quietly.

The warrior flexed his arm, where his chainmail clinked subtly. There wasn't so much as a scratch. "Nah. My armor absorbed it," the said with a relieved grin.

"Thank God," the paladin said quietly.

"God had nothing to do with this, paladin," I said bluntly.

"More than you realize," he said simply and let the matter drop. "Everyone alright?" he asked.

I heard it, before I saw it. The shuffling of feet. I turned to see a large ghoul charge out of nowhere toward me. It moved so fast, it knocked my skeletons aside as they moved in to shield me.

"Piricus!" the amazon shouted in concern. The paladin was already moving, but by the time he got to me it would be too late. The sorceress cast an ice spire, but the creature somehow shrugged it off. I cast a bone shield, but this new ghoul went right through it and grabbed me. It laughed at me in the silent language I knew so well. I had been so careless, just standing around. He told me that his name was Plague Cloud the Black. He taunted me that now he would taste my flesh, but I laughed back. I could feel the energy around him. I could feel what animated him. It was some distal connection to Andariel herself. In other words, it was powerful, but I knew that without her physically present here with us, I was stronger. I was laughing because what I was about to do, undoubtedly she would sense. And it would be like a slap in the face. I used my own power and pushed necromantic energy into the creature. I poured in a good deal of my mana, and slowly but surely, I cast Andariel's own energy out of the creature. It went limp for a moment, then it gained a placid expression I knew all too well. It was completely obedient to me.

"Put me down," I commanded firmly and in seconds I was on the ground again as the creature relinquished its hold on me.

"What the hell is going on?" the warrior asked as he and everyone else looked on. A violent, earth-shattering roar could be heard from somewhere down below. Everyone jumped, except me.

"Not as tough as you thought, are you bitch?" I laughed out loud.

"Not as-- what the-- was that-- ANDARIEL? Did we just hear Andariel!?" the warrior cried in alarm.

"Doesn' sound ter happy does she?" the barbarian said, a little shaken.

"I'd be embarrassed if I were her," I said with a taunting laugh. "Outdone, by a human," I said with a smile. I twisted my finger and Plague Cloud took a bow in front of me.

"You just--- you took him from her!" the amazon said in realization.

"Only because she wasn't right here next to us and because she has so many other things under her control. But Piricus has just made life ten times harder for us," the assassin said sourly.

"Y's that?" the barbarian asked.

"Because now she knows we're here. She'll be expecting us from now on," the rogue said quietly.

"Don't look at me like that. It was either that, or die," I scowled.

"I can't say I blame you," the amazon said sympathetically.

"Get rid of that thing," the paladin said in disgust. "Skeletons are bad enough and they are all I will stomach. I refuse to have a ghoul walking around beside me that carries death in it's mouth," he said with conviction.

"Why let it go to waste?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Do what he says, or I'll put you down along with it. Keeping a trophy around is dangerous, especially if Andariel overtakes it again," the assassin hissed at me.

"That's not going to happen," I assured, "but you're right. He is a little tacky isn't he? I think he could do with a little wardrobe makeover," I said sarcastically and snapped my fingers. Green energy washed up the monster and sloughed off all of his remaining flesh so that only pure, white bone remained behind. A skeletal mage stood in his place, one with the power of virulent poison on its wrists.

The sorceress shivered. "That was really disturbing to watch."

"If that unsettled you sorceress, you probably shouldn't be around when I catch up to Andariel," I said icily.

"The only reason I'm going to let this fly is because you did it to save your own ass," the assassin said with venom.

"I don't need anyone's permission to work my magic. The only one that controls my actions, is me. And that's not going to change," I spat at her.

"Let's get moving. Now that Andariel knows we're here she's bound to send everything she has against us," the paladin said grimly.

"And the longer we wait, the worse it will be," the amazon added.

"How much further to the next stair case, Laurella?" the warrior asked.

"Not far, it's just down this hall and through those doors," she said, pointing. "After this, we'll be in the Inner Cloister. Then we need to go through the cathedral down into the catacombs. From all my speculation, Andariel should be at the very bottom," she announced.

"Sounds li' a plan," the barbarian affirmed as we walked down the hall.

"Before I open this door, is there anything in there that I need to know about?" the warrior asked of the rogue and amazon.

"Something's moving in there," the amazon said uncertainly as she closed her eyes.

"But I don't know what it is," the rogue finished for her.

"What that noise?" the sorcerer asked as we all strained our ears.

"It sounds like, screaming, but really far away," the druid remarked. His mutt sniffed the floor and then growled.

"What's he saying?" the rogue asked, eyeing him.

"I don't know, let me see," the druid said and knelt down, eye to eye with his mutt. He got a knowing look on his face.

"Well?" the assassin asked him.

"The next room is filled with Arachs. Strange, because they aren't native to this region at all," the druid replied.

"Arachs? Like arachnoids?" the amazon asked quietly.

"Exactly," the druid affirmed.

"What's the matter amazon, scared of spiders?" I taunted.

Much to my surprise, she shivered. "I really can't say I'm fond of them . . .I got bit by one once, it made me sick for a week."

"Well get bit by an Arach and you'll be down permanently unless you get an antidote immediately. Arachs are the monstrous cousins of normal spiders," the druid explained.

"Monstrous is how big exactly?" the sorceress asked with a sour look on her face.

"Probably bigger than you are, sorceress," I answered rudely.

"He's right. They are about the size of a horse, if not bigger. There are many different kinds of Arachs. Some spew fire, some have poison," the druid furthered.

"Well what kind are in there?" the amazon asked with a look of dread.

"The friendly kind," I laughed. "The ones that won't make the amazon cry like a child."

"Shut up, Piricus. I don't think anyone really likes spiders," the warrior snapped.

"I'll admit that I'm scared, but I'm not so terrified that I lose all sense," the amazon insisted.

"Ooh. Admitting your scared? That's a mistake, if anyone of us here wanted to hurt you now we'd know one of your weaknesses," I pointed out.

"There is no shame in admitting fear. Everyone is afraid of something. Even you, Piricus. If you're not then you're not human," the paladin said sagely.

"There it again. That screaming. We should move fast. Maybe we save someone," the sorcerer interrupted as that same muffled sound from before caught our ears again.

"He's right. Forget about me, I'll be fine. We should go," the amazon said, readying herself.

"Three, two, one," the warrior counted down and then threw open the door way. No sooner had he opened the door than did a solid white mass fall out into the hall. It looked to be about the size of a person and was wrapped from head to foot in thick, sticky spider's silk. I saw the amazon jump and rolled my eyes. I thought she was tougher than that. The bundle began immediately thrashing on the ground and there it was, that muffled yelling.

"By God! Whoever's in there is still alive! Maria! Hurry, help me cut this off!" the paladin commanded urgently and together he and the assassin began slicing furiously at the webbing. No sooner had they turned their back than did there come a clicking noise from the doorway. I watched as the biggest spider I had ever laid eyes upon surfaced into view with it's eight-eyes and three-foot fangs glistening.

I heard the amazon take a sharp intake of breath. "Breathe," I reminded snidely.

"I am," she said with a voice full of tension.

"Don't let it through the doorway. Shoot it down!" the sorceress shouted and conjured a flaming ball of energy on her hand that she launched without delay. The fireball smashed into the spider's face and it exploded, flinging guts everywhere. No sooner did it die than did two more come rushing out the doorway before anyone had time to react. The rogue loaded her bow and shot a flaming arrow into one of the creature's eight eyes. The creature hissed, but kept coming. The amazon took the opportunity to throw an electrified javelin into the creature's head. It hit and killed the creature instantly. That left one, well at least for that moment. Another came strait through the door.

"Seal that off Vendra! Use a firewall like you did earlier!" the druid shouted. The sorceress nodded and then cast a firewall in front of the door. It turned one that tried to run through crispy, but then three more came through, only this time, they scurried on the underside of the door on the ceiling.

"That was really helpful," I said sarcastically eyeing the arachnids closing in on us. "Nature's poison meet mine, I think I'm a little better anyway," I muttered under my breath and then signaled for my mage to fire. The undead arcanist flung a poison bolt with precision and hit one of the three on the ceiling. It didn't take long for the poison to begin eroding the creature like acid and soon a limp insect fell off the wall onto the floor dead. The warrior moved in front of the assassin and the paladin, whom were trying to free the person in question and hacked at an encroaching spider, one of the two on the floor. Lightening arched off his sword into the arachnid's body, frying it. That one dropped just in time for the warrior to see the one that had turned around in front of him. The clever spider shot out it's sticky webbing from it's rear, catching the warrior right in the chest. The more he struggled the more entangled in it he became.

"Stop movin' Ryelass! I'll handle this!" the barbarian called out and rushed off to the side. The spider turned around and tried to bite him, but the barbarian parried with his axe and then he reached down and bashed the creature in the face with his fist, putting out several of its eyes. The injured spider scuttled backwards, but the barbarian followed and cleaved it in half.

That left two more on the ceiling. The sorcerer and sorceress worked together to blast one of them dead, but the other continued to shuffle along the ceiling until it came to the amazon. Then, descending on a string of webbing it landed right in front of her. She gasped and then braced herself. She jabbed at the creature with her javelin and each time she made to strike, the creature would hiss and strike back. This was going nowhere fast. Then, like one of them had just done to the warrior, the spider turned and blasted her with spider's silk, trapping her and knocking her to the ground. The arach lunged for the kill, but in the blink of an eye, the druid's mutt jumped in front of her and snapped wildly at the monster. The arach hissed and backed up some, giving the druid enough time to blast the creature with icy wind and freeze it, before breaking it into pieces with his club. The mutt had wasted no time in turning to the amazon and biting into the webbing that was covering her face and body. The beast actually made headway and by the time the druid got there the amazon was taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"Are there anymore?" she asked quickly, with her arms still pinned to her side.

"No," the rogue said, poking her head through the doorway into the next room.

"Thank Zerae," she sighed.

"This isn't working, hold still," the sorceress said to her as she walked over and knelt down. She ran a fiery hand over the webbing, burning it only slightly, but enough to where it could be pulled off easily. The amazon disentangled herself and then sat up. She threw her arms around the druid's mutt.

"Thank you, Belthem," she said looking the beast directly in his eyes. The mutt managed a short pant in acknowledgement and nuzzled her.

"You've got a friend for life there," the druid said with a smile and helped her to her feet. "I've never seen him look out for anyone but me before."

"Damn. This stuff is disgusting," I heard the warrior gripe as the sorcerer burned his trappings clear.

"Maria, Scorpious did you two--" the warrior began once he returned to his feet, but he was silenced by a shrill scream and a gasping sound thereafter as a fully armored rogue with long, brown hair shot bolt upright from the sac she had been imprisoned in and clutched at her throat. She took several more deep breaths and looked around wildly. Our rogue apparently knew this one.

"Callie! Callie! Oh my god are you alright!?" she asked hysterically, rushing to her side.

The rogue named Callie stared up at her blankly. The assassin hastily moved between them and opened what I knew to be an antidote potion, then shoved it down the girl's throat. Within moments the girl coughed, but I saw her muscles relax. She sputtered and coughed up some webbing, but after a moment she seemed to register what was going on.

"La . . .Laurella? Is that you? You, you're supposed to be dead! I saw Blood Raven take you!" she stuttered.

"That's a fine greeting. Technically you're supposed to be dead too," I said coldly.

She looked at me. "Who are you? Laurella, what's going on? The last thing I remember is Kashya's orders to come for the mallus. I got separated from the others, and before I knew it, these spiders had me! One bit me, and then I couldn't see. And then oh my god, the pain! I've never hurt so badly in my whole life!" she breathed.

"You're very lucky. And very resilient. Spider venom eats away at the victim over time and it causes them great pain. It's a wonder that you didn't suffocate to death. How long where you in there?" the druid asked.

"I don't know, probably about three hours. There was a tiny tear in the wrapping so I was getting some air, but I was beginning to black out. I don't know how to thank you!" she said in disbelief and gratitude.

"There's no need to thank us, I'm just grateful that we got to you in time," the paladin said kindly.

"Yes there is. Without us, your ass would be dead," I remarked plainly, making the paladin give me a stern look.

"These are my friends, you met them back at camp remember? The ones who traveled from all around Sanctuary? We've recovered the mallus and we're on our way to deal with Andariel," the rogue explained calmly.

The older rogue's eyes became wide. "Andariel?! You think you can defeat her?

"We've come this far," our rogue said proudly. "And we've killed the Smith."

"You what?! Incredible, I never thought that. . . never mind. Regardless, you're all insane," she said quietly. "So what now?"

"I'd advise you to come with us. We've cleared the way up until now, but we haven't cleaned out all the levels completely. We came from a secret passage Celeste showed me, but you can't get out that way. That and there are an army of skeletons out front," the rogue explained.

The brown-haired rogue got a sour look on her face. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't. Looks like I'm going to die either way."

"Aren't you a bundle of optimism?" I asked snidely, making her glare at me.

"Your odds are better if you come with us," the assassin said plainly. "One person unarmed trekking all the way through the demon-infested wilderness isn't going to get very far."

"And neither is someone going up against the demon queen herself!" the rogue insisted.

"Don't you remember anything? They rescued Deckard Cain! They cleansed the Den of Evil and they bested Blood Raven! If anyone stands a chance, it's us," our rogue reasoned.

The other rogue still looked dubious. "What if I turn on you? What if Andariel corrupts me?"

"If you haven't fallen by now, you're not going to," the warrior furthered.

"I guess. But I have no weapon. Either way I'm useless," she said truthfully.

"There's a weapons room in the Cathedral. We could get you a bow once we get there," our rogue suggested.

"IF you get there," the other rogue said uncertainly.

"There's only one way ter find out," the barbarian said encouragingly. "Ya can use two of my throwin' axes 'til we get ya a bow," he offered.

"Axes? I'm no good with those," she said, turning up her nose.

"You don't have to be. Just swing and you'll hit something with a sharp edge," the warrior reasoned.

"I don't know . . . ." she said uncertainly.

"Make up your mind. We've already all given you our opinion and your options," the assassin said bluntly.

"I guess I really don't have a choice. I'll go with you. At least if I die I'll die fighting and not running away," she said reluctantly.

"That a girl! Tha's the way ter think!" the barbarian said, patting her on the back. She nearly fell over from the weight. "Oops. Sorry 'bout that. Here ya go," he said and handed her two smaller axes.

She sighed. "God help us," she breathed.

"He will. You just have to believe," the paladin preached.

"Oh that's right. They told me you were a paladin," the older rogue began. "Tell me something. Will fighting evil increase my chances of going to heaven?" she asked seriously. I choked on a laugh, but said nothing.

"If you die doing what's right, then yes you do have a better chance," he said seriously.

"Well, I hope I'm going to heaven when I die, because I'm going through hell on earth right now. I don't want to think about this anymore or I might change my mind. Let's just go and get this over with," she said and she took the lead beside our rogue up the stairs and into the light.


	19. Chapter 19

-1Author's note: Hey guys thanks for reading and reviewing it really helps with motivation! If any of you are interested I wrote a short story about Scorpious' beginnings called Truth Beneath the Rose. I posted it here on so you can go check it out if you want to. I'm thinking of making backstories for all of them. Somebody drop me a line and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo 2 Blizzard Ent. Does, I'm just goofing off for fun.

Defiled and Dangerous

Piricus

Compared the near pitch black of the jail, daylight was almost blinding as we entered into the corridor outside the Inner Cloister.

"It seems like a crime that something can be so bright and then still be so tainted," the amazon said quietly.

"Misleading isn't it? Just like paladins," I pointed out, making ours sigh. It wasn't long and we began hearing noises beyond the door. Low grunts and snorting. The druid's mutt sniffed and growled, backing away from the door.

"What is it now?" I asked, eyeing the creature.

The druid did his normal routine and looked the animal in the eyes. "Wait," he said quickly as the warrior reached for the door. "This is going to be tricky. There are a bunch of razor spines in there, including a really big one that doesn't smell right to Belthem," he explained.

"Razor spines?" the barbarian asked.

"Damn," the newest addition the group hissed. "They're quill rats, except bigger and with more spines," the brunette rogue explained. "How the hell did they get in here?"

"We just saw Arachs which are native to the eastern jungles. This shouldn't be a surprise either. Andariel has thrown the full force of hell against us, calling in dark creatures from all over the dominion," the druid explained.

"How the are we going to get past that door? The second we open it, quills are going to start flying," the amazon pointed out.

"This is a task for those of us with shields," the paladin said bluntly. "We'll go in first, and take them out then the rest of you can follow," he announced. "Vendra, Sovellis, I'd ask that you stay behind. Frost shields may not be enough to stop quills," he furthered.

"Energy shields be," the sorcerer remarked.

The sorceress nodded. "He's right. We can help. Hitting our mana shields will be just like hitting metal," she assured.

"It depends on how much damage you'll be taking. If you run out of mana, you'll be down and out and defenseless," the assassin remarked.

"The more of us there are, the quicker this will be," the sorceress insisted.

"Chyemme, Laurella, how many of them are there?" the warrior asked.

"A lot," our rogue said quietly.

"Fifteen," said the amazon.

"How many of you are there that are going in?" the older rogue asked us skeptically.

"There's myself," the warrior began, Chyemme, Scorpious, Vendra, Sovellis, and Piricus if he conjures a bone shield," he stated, looking at me.

"My minions will go as well. They're made of bone, unless the quills knock their heads off they won't be destroyed. More than I can say for you pathetic lot," I laughed.

"I like being SKIN and bones," the sorceress said sarcastically.

"I'd choose metal over bone any day," the warrior said plainly.

"Shows what you know," I said truthfully.

"You're really creepy and those _things_," the new rogue said eyeing my skeletons in distain, "are horrific. You're playing with the very things set against us."

"Mine are superior. And they're that way for a reason. Don't piss me off or I'll use them on you," I said flatly.

"You'll what? You're a real asshole," she said bluntly.

The sorceress laughed. "Welcome to the club."

"Stop playing around Piricus. Let's go," the amazon said disapprovingly, and put her large shield up in front of herself.

I rolled my eyes and cast a bone shield around myself and called my three skeletons and mage to the ready. "Let's add another for good measure," I mumbled and shot energy at the ground, which sprouted a clay golem into my collection.

The new rogue jumped and I laughed. "That's really pathetic if that scared you. You're not going to last very long," I said bluntly.

"Leave her alone," our redhead said to me defensively and I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't cop an attitude with me, little girl. Although I have to say, hearing you speak up is funny," I admitted. "But trust me," I added with a cruel smile, "I always have the last laugh."

"The longer we wait the worse this gets, I'll go first," the paladin said, interrupting my fun. Without another word, he threw his silver targe in front of his body and stormed through the door. Those of us that were remaining behind moved to either end of the hall, out of the doorway.

I heard loud clanking as a shower of quills hit the paladin's shield and ran off like water. He pushed through forward and the amazon followed behind him, followed by the warrior then the two magi and then myself and my minions. I could see the brightly colored animals lining all around the room.

"Get to work," I told my skeletons and my mage and ordered them towards the nearest demon. Staying close to me, my mage attacked at range, while my other minions all ganged up on the hapless demon. It sprayed quills like water, but it hit bone and bounced off. When they hit my golem, it merely sucked them in and kept going. They killed that one quickly, and I used my magic to quickly kill another.

The amazon was making short work of another with a javelin. By the time I turned around, she had killed three. The two mages began casting fireballs in rapid succession. I saw quills hit their shields and become suspended in a translucent blue light. I also saw the sorceress flinch. Their shields could absorb some quills, but if they kept getting sprayed with them at the current rate they were going to run out of mana before they finished with their enemies.

The warrior and the paladin were having a little bit of trouble getting to their opponents. The blasts from the quills were so strong that they actually pushed the two of them backwards behind their shields. Both quickly regained themselves however and I watched the paladin as he awkwardly ducked around his massive shield to cleave at a razor spine. I heard a loud curse word and saw that one of the creatures had managed to get around the warrior's shield to the side and it had loosed a few quills into him before he could adequately block. Most were deterred by his armor, however two them went into his body, one through his glove and the other into his elbow on the same arm. Shocked by the pain, the warrior dropped his sword, being unable to move his hand properly.

"You're useless warrior," I snapped at him, and his face contorted with rage, but he gritted his teeth. He steeled himself, then grabbed the quill in his hand with the other and yanked it out with a short cry. He did the same to the second quill. Blood began leaking out, tingeing his armor scarlet, but despite this, he picked up his sword, walked over, and using his steel-toed boots, he kicked the creature on its vulnerable underside, flipping it onto its back and then savagely stabbed into it, killing it.

More quills whizzed by his ear and so did a fireball as the sorcerer cleared his way to the next one. The male mage took careful aim and then blasted a jet of ice at a nearby monster, followed by a fire ball, successfully freezing then melting the animal into a puddle of goo. He turned his attention to the next razor spine, the large, flame-orange one. At first, there wasn't anything daunting about it other than it's size, it was the size of a large pony, and up until now it had just been slinging quills like all the others. The demonic creature must have sensed the mage's attention because he hadn't so much as taken a step in its direction before it leaned forward onto its front legs, raised its entire back end into the air and loosed a cluster of quills at once. Seconds later, the projectiles burst into flame and hit the mage's mana shield in a small explosion. As if the blow had physically struck him, he recoiled. Though the quills fell to the ground still aflame, the mage looked like he had sustained physical damage from that. Another round of quills knocked the sorcerer off his long legs and I watched as he struggled mentally and magically to sustain the shield that his life depended upon.

The sorceress noticed his distress and immediately turned to help him. She fired a blast of lightning at the creature, which hit but did little more than to tickle the creature. It grunted, then tossed explosive quills at her meanwhile three more of the regulars were attacking her as well. In no time at all, I saw her shield begin to waiver and weaken. One of the quills loosed strait through the waning mana shield and embedded itself strait through her robes and into her leg. Though to her credit she had managed to twist herself so that the injury was superficial. She winced and removed the quill, though I could see blood stains forming on her clothing. Now both she and the mage were in trouble.

"A flock of geese fight better than the lot of you," I snorted watching the scene and ordered my skeletons onto their next target.

"Well then you'd better grow feathers and fly away after this is over if you don't do something useful!" she snarled.

"Watch out!" the sorcerer shouted at her and lunged, succeeding only because of his above averagely muscled legs, and tackled the sorceress to the ground as flaming spines flew above her now unprotected head. Their shields were sustaining too much damage for them to be able to hold them. What an idiot that sorcerer was, because by the time they were going to be able to pick themselves up, they were going to be pin cushions. Lucky for them, my skeletons wandered in front of them, chasing a fleeing target. Unfortunately for me, the explosive projectiles hit one of them and shattered it into a separate pile of bones. I cursed under my breath.

"Somebody come get them before I use them in a more functional manner," I shouted to the others.

Nobody needed to ask the paladin and in a second he was right there, shielding them from one side. The amazon soon made her way over and shielded them from the other side. I saw the paladin take a step back as the force of the small explosion that hit his shield took effect. To his back, a shower of quills were making it impossible for the amazon to move or even throw a javelin, it was too dangerous to leave anything open around the shield.

I figured I might as well do something to help them out, otherwise I'd be fighting by myself. Well, not technically, but I was impatient with the battle and just wanted it to end so we could move on to the next Trag 'Oul forsaken fight. I commanded my skeletons and my golem to target the remaining razor spines around the edges of the courtyard, and turned my attention to the flame-throwing nuisance. I conjured a bone spear in my hand and threw it at the demon. It hit the creature in the face, but bounced off without even breaking skin. I should have known it wasn't going to be so easy.

About this time, the warrior charged the large creature, swinging his enchanted sword furiously while it was distracted by my attack. The sword hit, and snapped a few quills, but for the most part it was like hitting a solid sheet of metal. The lightning, as before with sorceress, did little to effect the creature, only sour its already violent disposition. It hissed and turned to attack him. He quickly shoved his shield in front of himself, just in time to be blasted backwards onto his ass by the force of fire. It was becoming clear to me no matter what we hit this thing with it didn't matter, it had stone skin. I could fix that.

I snapped my fingers, ordering my mage to my side. I ordered it to blast the creature with the strongest dose of venom it had. Physical weapons may not have worked but that was one thing I had come to appreciate about poison. It was detrimental to everything that had a body and some could even eat away steel. The mage blasted the creature with venom and hit it dead on. I growled and quickly shoved my shoulder into my mage, knocking it sideways out of the path of the fulminating quills. They hit my bone shield instead and blasted chips out of it, but otherwise it still held. I shifted the bones around to close the gap. That would have been a waste of time and mana to watch my mage die. I could conjure more, true, but I was saving my energy for Andariel. I intended to raise an army that I could take with me and for that I was going to need as much of myself as I could spare.

"Why can't you do that for people, jackass?" I heard the sorceress hissed as she watched me.

"I like them better, if you haven't noticed. My skeleton's not the one hiding behind its comrades like a useless burden," I shot back.

"What ever you did was just about as useful, jackass. Look for yourself," she snarled.

I snarled too when I saw it. The poison had done little more than to disintegrate a few quills halfway.

"I have an idea," the amazon called out.

"Let's hear it," said the paladin.

"Get it's attention, Scorpious," she instructed, and the paladin moved forward ever so slightly, attracting the creatures demented gaze. It hissed and growled then spit fiery quills at him.

"Now, on my count everyone duck!" she shouted and counted down from three to one, timing her movements flawlessly. They all dropped nearly down to the ground, and as they did a cluster of exploding quills whizzed over head from one direction, followed by barrages from the others in the opposite directions. There was loud squealing, like a stuck pig and I could smell the blood in the air. I watched as the quills implanted themselves into the body of the big one, most in the face, killing it instantly. The flaming quills had more than done a good job eliminating the other razor spines. I heard a hiss and watched as my golem killed the last one in the corner.

I heard a door open and briefly thought that the others were coming to join us, however something very heavy and explosive smashed into my shield, blasting a hole clear through it. I blinked in surprise. I thought we had killed that damn creature.

"WATCH OUT!" the sorceress cried as she and the others returned to their feet. I heard people running, and then I realized, those weren't human footsteps I was hearing. A small army of black haired grey-skinned horned rogues came stampeding into the courtyard, axes and swords raised on high. Another barrage of projectiles came whizzing for us, only I realized they were arrows this time. I quickly recalled the rest of my bone shield and repaired the gap, albeit now my shield wasn't nearly as thick as it had been.

It wasn't long before another bolt of fire came flying towards us, this time towards the warrior. He threw his shield up in time to block the arrow, which fell to his feet, burning.

"What's going on out there?" came the voice of the druid from the hallway behind us.

"Rogue archers! Stay where you are!" the paladin instructed.

"The hell with tha'! We can handle it!" the barbarian thundered and in a second he stormed through the door way and caught an arrow as it whizzed by his nose. Emboldened by his lead, the rogue, followed by her extremely reluctant sister in arms came through the door. The assassin and the druid bounded in after them to take up positions beside us.

The paladin called something out in his language of prayer and a golden ring erupted from around all of us, excluding my minions. It was his defiance aura, and I felt as if my armor had been reinforced multiple times. What was more, once again I was feeling an odd presence behind the magic, yet I knew it to be the hand of some sorcerer, because Gods, the God of Zakarum or otherwise, did not exist.

The druid's raven flew headlong into the fray and the wolf bounded after it. Both animals crashed into the line of enemies, ripping into them and tearing at their bows. They succeeding in disorienting a few of the demons and disarming three of the twenty. I sent my two skeletons and golem after them, leaving my mage by my side.

The cavalry of melee fighters charged us. I had no qualms about dealing with them, behind my shield I was free to cast multiple spells. I loosed bolt after bolt of teeth spells and a couple of bone spears. All in all, I managed to kill five demon women. The amazon had taken to using the crystal sword she had gained in the battle with the countess. I wondered why she'd revert to melee combat, but then I noted she only had a handful of javelins left. She appeared to be doing well however, she seemed to have some instruction. She parried an axe over her head, then kneed the she-demon in the gut. She twirled the glistening, sparkling blade in her hand and the ran her through, pulling the demoness in closer with her other hand.

The paladin had engaged two at once, and was expertly fending them off and at the same time making his own attacks. He kicked one demon in the chest knocking her away from him. Then he grabbed the wrist of the other and flung her into her comrade. Both collided and hit the floor where he ended their black lives.

The assassin had been encircled by three demons. All charged at the same time. In a practically impossible twist the assassin jumped into the air, spun around and kicked one demon in the face with her heel, sending it sprawling. She landed, then swung her leg and body on a circle on the floor, tripping one demon. She knelt down and beheaded it. She timed her assault perfectly with the attack of the last. She yielded aside on the ground, reached up, grabbed the demon's arm and threw her over her shoulder. The demoness landed with a loud thud and was swiftly pierced through the heart. The assassin turned her attention to the third adversary that had regained her feet. She prepared to strike when the demon fell dead at her feet, an axe sticking out of her back.

The newest rogue walked over with a look of remorse and disgust as she eyed the demon she had just killed and removed the axe. The assassin nodded at her and in a flash she lunged at her and deviated at the last minute to shove one of her katars under the stunned rogue's arm, skewering another corrupt sister behind her. The older rogue jumped back with a look of shock, seeing how close she had just come to death.

"Keep your guard up," the assassin reminded gravely and she bounded into the fray next to the amazon.

Our rogue had taken to the rear of the inner cloister and was shooting expertly into the crowd. Several times I saw her shoot arrows out of the air with some of her own, blocking us from harm. A flame-enchanted projectile embedded itself in the wall beside her and an odd look crossed her face. The other rogue seemed stunned to as she noticed the flaming arrows.

"Ash Wind," I heard the older one mumble strangely.

"If you know her, then you know her weakness. Kill her!" I snapped, looking around trying to see where the shots were coming from.

"It's not that simple," the older rogue said in an odd voice.

"Why the hell not?" I asked, annoyed. She made to say something but was cut off as a flying immolation arrow soared right for her face. She had nowhere to go and nothing to deflect it with. I saw panic flicker in here eyes, but in a flash, the warrior was beside her with his shield. He pulled her behind it and the arrow exploded, leaving a dent there.

"Ash Wind is Callie's cousin! Her name is Sariah!" our rogue announced loudly.

"Well don't go sentimental rogue, or you'll end up dead. If it comes down to me and her, I'm going to slaughter her," I said icily, but the truth hurts sometimes.

She had a pained look on her face and I knew she was going through the same thing our rogue did when we first met her. I could only hope this new one was that strong as well.

"This ain't workin'," I heard the barbarian thunder and without another word he leapt a dozen feet into the air and landed in the middle of the raging battle with the rest of the demon women. "Stand back!" he bellowed and everyone cleared the area as best they were able. The barbarian began to twirl around violently swinging his axe until he became a flurry of blades. He started spiraling around the area like a hurricane, slaughtering all in his path. It didn't take long before the demons were running from him, right into the arms of our party. Within moments, the area was clear. But still, no sign of this "Ash Wind".

I spoke too soon. A volley of flaming arrows coated in explosive chemicals hit the floor in front of us and blasted everyone off our feet. There came from the darkened doorway ahead of us a pale rogue, with a long bow. This one looked different from the others. Her skin was still remotely peach, and she only had miniscule horns and no spikes coming out of her body. All in all, she looked more human than the others, but I knew not to let this fool anyone.

"There she is. Kill her! Amazon, rogue, one of you take a shot," I demanded.

The amazon raised a javelin, but our rogue hesitated. "Wait," the redhead begged.

"She's lost, don't endanger everyone else here because of personal feelings!" the assassin snapped. "Kill her while you can, Chyemme!"

The amazon nodded and pulled back her arm to throw. It caught us all by surprise as the older rogue ran up and tackled her to the ground. They struggled for a second, and it looked like it was going to come down to blows with a weapon and the amazon's were currently out of reach.

I had never seen such a nasty look on the assassin's face. She lunged for the irrational rogue and grabbed her, shoving a katar to her throat. "Attack your allies, damn you! Give me one good reason not to slit your throat and you'd better make it quick!" she hissed and drew a line of blood on her throat.

"Chyemme, are you alright?" the sorceress asked as she hurried over to help her up.

"Fine," the amazon hissed at the older rogue that had just attacked her. "You'd better come up with your own reasoning because I'm not going to vouch for you," she said coldly.

"Ooo. You pissed her off. What's the matter amazon? I thought you'd be keen on forgiveness like the paladin," I sneered.

"Not when it could get us killed, speaking of which I--" the amazon began but she didn't finish, she only had time to block another arrow with her shield before being blasted back onto the ground.

"Sariah! Sariah! Don't do this! Sariah!" the older rogue yelled frantically, struggling against the assassin with all her might, only succeeding to cut into more of her throat.

The demoness got a strange look on her face, then raised her bow. "Die mortals!" she croaked in a hoarse, inhuman voice.

"Mortals? Sariah! You're mortal too! don't you remember? Sariah don't you remember me!?" she shouted, frantic.

"You're going to be dead soon," the assassin hissed and made to finish her.

"Let her go, Maria!" our rogue said harshly, making the assassin twitch.

"She's going to get us killed," the assassin growled.

"Let her go or I'll shoot you," she said timidly, with trembling hands as she pointed her weapon at the assassin.

I was so surprised I coughed, and everyone else blinked.

"You'll what? How dare you threaten me, when all I've ever done is protect you," the assassin hissed. "I ought to kill you too for that."

"Laurella . . ." the warrior began delicately.

"Don't you see? She is exactly like me! Let her settle this herself or it will destroy her!" our rogue demanded.

The assassin scowled. "I won't put up with betrayal!" she barked. "Keep pointing that thing at me, why don't you?" she hissed.

"Maria," the paladin began softly.

"What?" she hissed at him, though some of the edge went out of her voice.

"She's right. Let her go," he commanded softly.

"No," she growled.

"Maria, she's not in her right mind. It is as Laurella has said. Let her finish this or she'll lose herself to darkness and despair. Forgive her weaknesses and her trespasses Maria, God hath commanded it," he reminded.

I scoffed. "Kill her assassin, that should be all the reason you need."

"She'll die anyway," the assassin hissed eyeing the rogue in her hold and the demoness approaching us.

"That's not up to you," the paladin said calmly. "Hers is not your life to take," he added sagely.

"I'm not going to save her," she hissed, pulling the rogue closer to her blades.

"No one asked you to. Let this play out and remember forgiveness," he advised.

"Forgiveness will get you killed," she hissed.

"I asked you to trust me. You said you did," the paladin reminded.

"That has nothing to do with it," the assassin growled.

"It has everything to do with it. Now is one of those times," he informed. "If anything, let her go because I asked you to."

"Don't give him that kind of power over you, assassin," I growled in disgust.

"Sariah! Sariah!" the rogue yelled again.

The assassin closed her eyes and scowled. "So help her God if she manages to hurt anyone else. If she is responsible for anything else against this group I will kill her no matter what you say," she growled dangerously then removed her blades and shoved the rogue away from her.

The older rogue stumbled some from the sudden release of pressure, then looked at the assassin. "Get away from me if you know what's good for you," the assassin spat. She didn't need to be told twice.

"I can't believe this," I muttered in distain.

"Neither can I," the warrior agreed. "This is ludicrous. There is no way she's going to kill her," he noted.

"Then she's going to die," I said simply. "And when you do," I said looking at her cynically, "I'm going to raise your corpse to finish the work you couldn't do in life. No need for a good body to go to waste."

"Be, be quiet Piricus!" our rogue stuttered.

I turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Or you'll do what? Shoot me? Little girl if you even think about it, you'll wish the assassin had killed you. Because I'll torture you, kill you, then raise you as mine," I said plainly.

"That's enough," the paladin said sternly to all of us. "Do what you have to do, Callie," he said gently to her.

To my surprise and everyone else's, the older rogue dropped both of her weapons and ran up to the demon.

"Callie! Callie what the hell are you doing?!" Our rogue called in horror as she watched the rogue run to her own impending death.

"Sariah! Sariah! It's me, Callie! Don't you see? Has Andariel taken away all your memories? You're not like this Sariah! You're not, I know you're not!" the older rogue said with tears in her eyes.

The demoness didn't even blink. "You are enemies of the mistress! That is all I need to remember! You will all die!" she hissed and strung her bow.

"No bitch! You're going to die, that's all you need to remember because if she doesn't, I will," I snapped to the inhuman creature.

"I will deal with you soon enough loud one," the demon croaked. "But first," she muttered, and fired the arrow. It went strait in, flame and all into the older rogue's right shoulder. She screamed in pain, and the paladin started forward, but the assassin grabbed his arm with an icy look on her face.

"You're the one who said to let this play out. Wasn't what you were expecting was it?" she hissed icily as she watched.

"Wait," the paladin said quietly, as if to himself. "She could have . . ."

The older rogue stumbled, but then to our surprise, she continued forward until she was right in front of the demon. Then in a practically unfathomable action, she threw her arms around the demoness and began to cry on her shoulder.

"Oh Sariah! What did Andariel promise you that I couldn't have gotten for you? You were the world to me. Tell me why? Why has this happened to you? No-- it doesn't matter. The fact is that I still love you Sariah no matter what you've become. I beg you! Please remember who you are! I don't care if you kill me, as long as you remember!" she wailed.

The demoness pulled a long knife from her belt, though she didn't shove the rogue away. She raised the knife and made to strike. "Mortal," she hissed and looked down.

I got the shock of my life, the demon stopped just inches from the back of the rogue's neck. She actually stopped herself. I didn't believe it.

"Mortal . . . No," she mumbled and shook her head. "Callie . . . ." she croaked in her demon voice.

"You died mortal--Callie. The mistress was so strong. The only way to survive was to serve," she said, faltering.

"Mistress? Since when did you serve anyone but Lady Akara? Lady Akara is your mistress and your mother. Lady Akara survived Andariel's attack, she's stronger than the demon queen. And so are you. I didn't die. Is that why you turned, because you thought you had lost me?" she cried.

The demon shook her head violently. "No! No! No! No! I cannot, the mistress she will . . . Leave me!" she roared at once in an unearthly voice. "Leave me or die! I am lost!"

The paladin gently wrenched free of the assassin's grasp and walked up to them, making the demon lock its tortured eyes on him. "You admit that you are lost? That is not an admission of one that is so. You admit this, and so you can be saved," the said in a commanding voice.

"Paladin by Trag 'Oul, she's a demon! What the hell can you do," I shouted incredulously, "she doesn't want to hear a sermon!"

"Be silent, Piricus!" he shouted at me in a tone I'd never heard him use before. His reaction stunned me so much I fell silent in shock.

"There is always hope of redemption, Sariah. You have seen the light. Against all orders you could have taken your cousin's life, but did not. You have shown the will to fight against what you know in your heart to be wrong," he said powerfully.

"Stay away from me! The mistress! She will kill me! And you! All of you!" she hissed.

"Do you wish to die for this mistress? Someone who has lied to and used you?" he asked calmly.

"What? I . .no! But she will kill me!" the demon croaked in misery.

"Not if you are with us. Come to me. Let me show you that there is forgiveness and mercy. Come to me and I will show you the power of a master worth fighting for," the said with conviction.

"Get away! You're going to kill me!" she croaked, "the loud one said so!"

"He is not me," the paladin said gently. "No, I'm not going to kill you, you're going to be born again."

"It can't be done!" she insisted, shaking from head to toe like I'd never seen a demon do.

"It can. Believe and I will give you something to believe in," he said powerfully.

"What can you do?" demoness asked, quaking.

"I can save you, now that you want to be saved. You have something to fight for, Sariah. Your cousin is here and she loves you," the paladin said with a voice of emotion.

"She . . My . . " the demon muttered and locked her black eyes on the paladin. "Help me," she breathed at last as violent shivers ran through her body.

"So shall it be," the paladin said, and took out a golden cross from under his armor. He walked to the demon and placed it on her chest. The demoness hissed but remained still. He closed his eyes and began to pray in an increasingly louder voice until at last he was shouting and a golden, blinding light flowed over the demoness, fueled by our auras and the paladin's.

The paladin placed the palm of his hand upon the demoness' forehead and shouted at the top of his lungs, "AWAKEN SARIAH SERVANT OF THE LIGHT! BY THE AUTHORITY GIVEN TO ME BY GOD AS HIS SERVANT, I CAST YOU OUT, ANDARIEL DEMONESS OF HELL! IN THE NAME OF THE LIGHT I CAST YOU OUT!"

I don't think I could have been more surprised. A black energy swirled around the demoness and I watched as the black hue of her hair was absorbed and her demonic features sucked back into her body and her skin became rosy and pink. I blinked and before me stood a human being with corn silk blonde hair and startling green eyes. The mist vanished and then the ground rumbled as a thundering, murderous roar shook the earth like it had before when I stole a zombie from the Queen of Hell. I might have taken a zombie, but the paladin just showed me up and taken a demon.

In moments, all fell still. I had no idea how to explain this and that bothered me. I refused to except the paladin's exclamation for this. This was not a work of God, but of powerful magic. Though I was unsure of how, it had to have some other explanation. It had to. End of story.

The woman, Sariah, blinked and then checked herself over as if she thought she might be dead. She whisked a hand though the air and then without warning she threw herself onto the paladin and kissed him square on the lips. He pushed her back quickly, obviously he didn't want that sort of attention. She settled for hugging him then and crying onto his shoulder.

"I don't know how you did it, but I'm free! I'm free! And, I'm me again! How can I ever thank you!?" she cried hysterically. I looked over and noticed that the older rgoue was crying too, tears of joy.

"No need to thank me, you did the hard part yourself. The light has redeemed you, I was merely an instrument. Give your thanks to God," the paladin said sincerely.

"Yes! Yes I will! To think, now that you're here all my sisters can--" she began, giddy.

The paladin frowned and sighed. "Unfortunately I can't. Each one of you made a personal choice to serve Andariel. I can only save those that want to be saved. Like I said, you did the work, not I," he explained.

"Sariah," came the weak voice of the older rogue. The rogue "Ash Wind" turned and looked at her mournfully and began to cry when she saw her injury.

"Oh Callie, what have I done to you?" she sobbed.

"Nothing that I can't fix," the paladin assured and walked over.

"You're amazing," the newly revived rogue said quietly as she watched him tend to her cousin. In moments, she was good as new.

"The power of god," the paladin said simply.

"The power of magic," I corrected and the paladin looked at me incredulously.

"If that didn't convince you that God is real Piricus I have no idea what will," he said, astounded.

"There has to be another explanation," I said hotly.

"I have none to give you," he said bluntly.

"Are you really that dense, Piricus?" the sorceress asked, like me she was astonished at what had just occurred.

"Yes I am, though dense is hardly what I'd call it. Try skeptical," I snapped.

"God 'er no, tha' was amazin' Scorpious!" the barbarian said walking up and clapping him on the shoulder.

"I never see anything like it," the sorcerer agreed.

"And we probably won't. As he said, this circumstance was extremely rare," said the druid. His mutt went up to Ash Wind and sniffed her, scrutinizing every inch. He gave a short pant, then returned to his master.

"What did he say?" the revitalized blonde asked, eyeing him.

"That you're human," the druid replied simply.

"You can talk to animals? Amazing! And you--what the hell are those?" she hissed, stringing her bow and aiming at my skeletons.

"Don't you dare, bitch. They're with me," I said simply and stepped in front of my minions.

"What are you?" she asked with a scared look in her eye.

"Not someone you want to mess with," I said bluntly.

"He's a necromancer," the brunette rogue hissed, and the blonde one flinched.

"Wow Piricus, you really have a way with people," the sorceress said scathingly.

"I despise human beings for the most part," I said truthfully.

"It shows," the warrior said bluntly.

"What now?" our rogue asked.

"Laurella, is that you? Oh my God, I thought you had been killed, especially when Blood Raven---" the blonde began, noticing our rogue for the first time.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now," she said quietly. My guess was seeing this new rogue saved was making her depressed over the fate of her own sister.

"Well, we have no choice but to continue. The sooner we get to Andariel the better," the druid remarked.

"I'm afraid you have no choice but to come with us," the brunette rogue said, rubbing her healed shoulder. "There's no exit that's clear," she added.

The blonde considered to herself for a moment. "I'd have it no other way. Maybe by killing Andariel we can free the rest of our sisters. There would be no greater honor than for me to have a hand in her death," she admitted. "Callie, where's your bow?" she asked, eyeing the girl's axes.

"Lost. I almost got eaten by Arachs in the jail, they broke it. I'm alive because of everyone you see here," the brunette rogue informed.

The blonde rogue looked at us. "So I not only owe you my life, but hers as well? Truly I must thank you. All of you," she said in gratitude.

"You can thank us by not being useless," I grumbled.

"You can count on me," she assured.

"I want all three of you to get something strait," the assassin said sourly from where she leaned against the wall. "Your sisters are DEMONS. They care naught for the lives of others and they will kill you without a second thought. Don't waste your lives or endanger ours, or else," she snarled.

"But if you hadn't then I would be . . . " the blonde said grimly.

"Callie would be dead," the amazon said bluntly.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you, Chyemme. I just couldn't let you, not before I had the chance to--" the brunette rogue apologized.

The amazon nodded. "I understand."

"Good. Then we should be moving," the paladin said. "The cathedral is next is it not?" he asked.

The blonde rogue got a sore look on her face. "It is not a pleasant place anymore. It is far from a graceful house of worship, my lord paladin," she said, addressing the paladin formally.

He laughed. "Please do me the honor of calling me Scorpious, as do all my friends. Being so formal is hardly proper for the occasion. But as for the chapel, I am well aware that it is tainted and I intend to cleanse it as is proper once it can be safely done when Andariel is defeated. In the meantime I will take my solace in the blood of those foul creatures infesting it right now," he assured.

"We are at your service," said the blonde rogue, and her cousin nodded.

"If we can, let's try and get to the armory in the cathedral first. I need a bow. These axes just aren't me," the brunette rogue said, eyeing the weapons in distain.

"How far back is the armory?" the warrior asked.

"Not far," said our rogue, "just inside to the left."

"Good, let's go," said the sorceress and we all bunched together around the doorway the Ash Wind had come through.

"Since just recently you were one the bad and uglies in there, Sariah, what's in here that you know about?" the sorceress asked.

The blonde rogue considered to herself a moment. "It varies depending on the day. We had a patrol schedule. But for sure one thing in here to be leery of is the mage, Bone Ash," she announced.

"Bone Ash? Sounds like skeleton," the sorcerer observed.

"He is. A skeletal mage. He's got power over ice, he's super strong, and he's resistant to most magic," she informed.

"I want him," I said with a twinkle in my eye.

"You what? Piricus you can't just take--" the sorceress began and I pointed to my current skeletal mage.

"Yes I can. It will be easy," I said with a grin.

"Probably not easy as last time, now that Andariel know you here," the sorcerer said. "She be guarding her minions."

"Last time? You mean one of those things used to belong to Andariel?" the blonde rogue asked, eyeing my entourage with shock.

"Your former mistress is not so strong as she believes she is," I said rudely.

"Don't let her hear you say that," the blonde said seriously.

"She's going to die. I'm going to tell her anything I want when I see her," I said simply.

"Stop, you're making yourself look like an arrogant jackass--oh wait, you already are one," the sorceress said with loathing.

"I can say what I want sorceress, because I can back my myself up. I intend to have more things fighting for me in a second than there are of us fleshlings," I remarked simply.

"Like hell you will," the warrior growled, "I'm not going to let you have an army that outnumbers us and that might turn on us at any second," he said scathingly.

"Let me? I'd like to see you try and stop me," I said with an icy glare. "I'll make your corpse part of my army."

"He ain't the only on' tha' doesn' like that idea," the barbarian agreed. "It revolts all of us, righ' Scorpious?" he asked, turning to the paladin, who looked me over.

"What's the matter paladin? Don't think your little display has changed anything as far as I'm concerned. I think you spew nonsense and I'd put the fear of death into you if you actually decided to fight me, or try to control me," I laughed. "Your little mind stunts won't work on me."

"I have no quarrel with you other than this one-sided tirade. You are attempting to bait me and it will not work. I was about to say though, that while I despise the undead to the very core of my being, you having many of them that you control will work as a tactical advantage even if all they do is keep you safe. They are, I am disgusted to say, a necessary evil and I will permit them only until that time that Andariel is defeated. If you decide to retain them, we will have words then," he said, as he eyed my entourage with contempt.

"Ooo. Words. That frightens me to the core, paladin," I mocked, clearly unimpressed.

"Yur surprisin' everybody Scorpious. I though' ya hated those things," the barbarian said in surprise.

The paladin balled his armored fist, then relaxed it, the only adverse sign he gave. "I can't even put into words how much I despise them. But right now the more soldiers we have with us the better off we are, even if they are undead. Piricus, for the most part, is with us. It would be foolish for him to turn on us here when his own survival depends on us. Even with an army of soldiers, they are no replacement for living, THINKING human beings that can fight without orders," he supplied.

"Thinking is overrated when it comes to underlings. That's my job. And there's only one plan. MINE. They do what they're told or they die, and don't screw things up by going off on their own and getting others killed," I snapped.

"Enough of this chatter," said the paladin, raising up his hand. "I've said all I care to say. Into the Cathedral," he motioned to us at large and we walked through the hulking doorway into the dark interior of what must have been a once stunning chapel. The ceiling was tall and arched and held by many ancient columns of once fine sculpting. The floor had once been a solid sheet of marble, and still maintained a glossy appearance in patches. I could only see a short ways back by the little light that was coming through a broken stained-glass window.

"The armory is here," said the brunette rogue and made to open the door. The sorceress blasted an energy wave and smacked it shut again before she had even really cracked it.

"Don't. I smell sulfur. Something is heavy on fire magic in there. I can sense the heat," she warned. True to her word, the druid's mutt seemed to have come to the same conclusion and backed away from the door growling.

"Any clue what's in there?" the warrior asked.

"Shamans," said the amazon. "There are four of them and a blue one, its staff is covered in this thick blue goo," she observed, though we couldn't physically see what she was talking about.

"Snot Cloud the Hunter," said the blonde rogue. "He is a powerful witchdoctor, and extremely fast. That gunk on his staff leeches mana from anything that touches it," she explained.

"And they're all necromancers of sorts," the blonde continued, looking at me as if it were news to me. "We have to kill them all at once or they will just revive each other."

"What should we do? An inferno is going to rain down through that door the second we open it. And with such heat, I'm not sure shields would hold," the warrior observed.

"I can give us at least a basic protection from fire," the paladin offered, making the two new rogue stare at him in awe.

"Is there nothing you can't do?" the blonde one asked in affection, clearly taken with him.

As always, the paladin was gracious about the praise and sickeningly modest. "There is no work to great for God," he explained.

"Shut up paladin, you're making me sick," I growled.

"Well, we are in church. Technically he not out of place," the sorcerer laughed, pointing out the truth.

"I have an idea," said the sorceress.

"You? An idea? Trag 'Oul save me the world is ending," I said with a voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Shut up, jackass. Anyway, I have a spell that I've yet to use. I haven't used it in a while, but I think it will help us. I can drive them out of the room into our arms," the sorceress announced.

"And how are you going to do that?" the brunette rogue asked interestedly.

"By summoning a creature of pure magic. Fire magic to be exact, so even if they attack it, it won't do any damage," she informed.

"A fire hydra? You can do that?" the druid asked aloud.

"Is it supposed to be hard?" the blonde rogue asked curiously.

"Yes. Only master mages can summon up living fire," the druid explained.

"We on a quest to become master mages when we end up here," the sorcerer reminded. "Part of trials is to conjure fire hydra. That how they know you ready to begin initiation quest," he conveyed.

"And both of you have conjured them?" the assassin said, leery.

"I'm a lot stronger than I look," the sorceress said, glaring at her.

"How many times have you done this?" the assassin continued.

The sorceress looked down. "Well, only once. But I HAVE done it before, so I should have no trouble doing it again," she said defensively.

"In theory," the assassin said coldly.

"Trust me for once to do what I say I can," the sorceress snapped.

"She not do it alone, I help," the sorcerer announced putting a dark hand on her shoulder.

"Very well. While you're doing that I'm going to lay down a trap so we don't actually have to fight them," the assassin assured.

"Are you sure you can do that?" the sorceress asked snidely and the assassin's lip twitched, but she said nothing.

The raven haired assassin set to making her trap, she pulled out several small blades and two odd looking iron rods with bits of metal attached on opposite ends. She carefully placed them in front of the door, opposite each other and placed the metal on the ground. "Everyone stay clear," the assassin warned and she pulled a small tuning fork out of her bag. She tapped both rods, which began to vibrate, and then the blades on the ground flew into the air and began to dart back and forth between the poles in a blur off metal.

"I thought you didn't practice magic," our rogue said, eyeing the trap.

" I don't. This isn't magic it's magnetic and completely natural. Nothing enhanced about this, just plain old steel," she said bluntly.

"I hope it does its job," the brunette rogue said, eyeing it.

"It will, especially since they'll panic and be looking back, not watching where they're going," the assassin assured.

"Let's get this show on the road," the barbarian reminded, readying his axe.

"Chyemme, come here please," the sorceress asked. The amazon didn't question her, but walked right over.

"What is it, Vendra?" she asked.

"I'm going to have to link myself to you for a second, while you use your inner sight so I can see where I'm casting," she replied.

The amazon looked a little disturbed. "Link to me? I don't know, can you do that?" she asked skeptically.

"I can use your spiritual energy, but only for a limited time and with your consent," she assured.

"Alright. Just make sure not to delve to deeply into my mind or I'll blast you out of it," she warned.

"No argument there," the sorceress said and in moments, a strange energy flowed through both of them and through the sorcerer as he joined them. The amazon's stars seemed brighter than usual. The sorceress began to chant something loudly, and I watched the assassin tense. I heard a series of enraged roars in the next room and explosions followed by mass commotion. The amazon and the magi disengaged and it didn't take long for the demons to start fleeing from the room in panic screaming in their tongue of gibberish. They ran right into the assassin's blades and were shredded to pieces. The last one, Snot Cloud, noticed the trap and swerved at the last second backwards to avoid it. I saw three massive fireballs fly at the creature from the back and smash into it, killing it in a blaze of orange.

"That's all of them," the amazon announced simply.

"That was easy," the blonde rogue said in astonishment. "That was amazing!"

"Team work always gets the job done fastest," the paladin said simply. "Vendra, Sovellis, is it alright to enter?" he asked.

The sorcerer nodded. "It all clear, the hydras not hurt us," he said truthfully.

"Though, those blades will if you don't disable them. Turn that thing off, Maria so we can walk through," the sorceress added.

The assassin walked over and ran the tuning fork over the active area twice, once in each direction, touching the metal bits on the poles. The bloody blades fell to the floor, idle atop the carcasses of the stupid demons. That was something ironic about necromancers, we couldn't raise ourselves from the dead. Speaking of raising the dead, I wasted no time in turning all five corpses into skeletal warriors. Both of the new rogues jumped, though the blonde one put on a braver show than her brunette cousin.

"Disgusting," she muttered, eyeing the gore at her feet as she stepped through.

I walked in just in time to see the fire hydras, great three-headed serpentine beasts writhed in living flame unmistakably bow to the two mages, before twirling into the ground in a whisp of fire and disappearing. The armory was no more than a small closet, with one of its hinges torn off and the door ajar. The brunette walked to the cabinet and picked up the better looking of two pitiful short bows, it had several cracks in the wood work, but it was otherwise sturdy. The good news was she had no difficulty finding arrows. There was a fully loaded quiver lying on the floor. She picked it up, tested her bowstring then notched an arrow.

"This will have to do for now. Thanks, you can have these back," she said, tossing the barbarian back his axes.

He gave her one of them back. "Jus' in case," he said truthfully and she nodded and took it.

"Alright, now that that's clear, the entrance into the catacombs is on the other side of the chapel. We can skip around Bone Ash if we go up the hall," the blonde rogue announced.

"No," I said simply, making everyone look at me.

"Why the hell not?" the sorceress barked in annoyance.

"Because I said I wanted him and I meant it," I said bluntly.

"You'll live without," the assassin said coldly.

"Why don't you kill the thing then Piricus, and catch up with us?" the sorceress asked rudely.

"Because we're staying together," the paladin said seriously.

"Come on Scorpious. Get real. I'm not going to fight an unnecessary battle so jackass over there can have a new toy," the sorceress complained.

"Why would you even want to fight more?" the warrior demanded.

"I would like to put an end to this creature, to be honest. This creature was largely in part responsible for defiling this once sacred place of worship and I would enact God's vengeance upon him. At the very least, we can begin to cleanse this place with the death of the demonic. It's my duty as a paladin of Zakarum," he announced with conviction.

"Do you really have to?" the female mage sighed.

"If it is a matter that will give you some personal ease Scorpious, I will go with you," the amazon said.

The assassin sighed. "Personal feelings are going to get everyone here killed."

"You don't have to go," the amazon pointed out.

"He's right about one thing. It's better we should stay together," she said simply.

"I will go with you, no doubt," said the love-struck blonde rogue like a child to a crush.

"If all of you are decided, we might as well all go," the druid pointed out. "Let's just be quick about this and be on our way. Sariah, take us on the most direct path to this creature," he requested and hefted his club off his shoulder to the ready.

"This way," said the blonde rogue and we all walked behind her, with weapons at the ready. We had just gotten out into the hallway when the amazon, all three rogues, and the druid's mutt set off an alert.

"There is a great amount of energy coming this way and it feels strange," said the amazon.

"Wha' does it feel like?" the barbarian asked curiously.

"Like Scorpious' aura, only tainted," she answered softly.

"We don't have any aura on right now," our rogue reminded.

"But our enemies do. Here they come!" barked the blonde rogue and she notched and fired a flaming arrow with lightning speed.

We didn't even need the firelight to see by. Several misshapen lumbered into sight from the shadows, glowing like torches surrounded by a sickly, demented golden rings.

"There's your proof that it's magic the paladin's working not miracles! Damned demons have the same power he does!" I shouted out loudly for all of them to hear. This caused some of them to shift restlessly behind me.

"What type of aura do they have?" our rogue asked.

"Might," said the paladin with rage, "this is sacrilege!" He shouted and without warning, raised his sword and shield and dove at the monster, a large green demon. As he went, all of us gained auras was well. Ours however, were pure gold and steady. I felt as if I had gained twenty pounds of muscle, that I could easily rip into one of these demons with my bare hands and do damage. My guess was this was the paladin's way of trying to show us he was superior.

The paladin and the misshapen collided with massive force and the paladin began hacking wildly at the monster, with it clawing back. I watched as it put three, long deep gashes in his shield, almost to the point of breaking through. The blonde rogue, not surprisingly, turned immediately to help him, and succeeded in hitting the monster with a flaming arrow in the eye. Its enraged roar was a battle cry to all the rest of them, which charged forward in their awkward gait directly for us.

The two rogues not assisting the paladin attacked at range, loosing a barrage of arrows that managed to mow down one of our opponents before they reached us, but just one. There were six.

One leapt high into the air and came crashing down on the warrior, knocking him down and putting a hole in his shield with its massive claws. The creature began to try and gouge with its grotesque tusks and succeeded in wrenching the shield from the short man's grasp completely. He stabbed at the creature in the side, and drew blood, but it was as if their auras blinded them to pain.

The barbarian hastily rushed to his friends aid and grabbed the creature by the hideous furry ear and yanked with his own massive strength. I watched, mildly surprised as the ear came right off as he pulled. The paladin's aura had given him more super strength than he already had. The barbarian took the moment of distraction to savagely kick the creature away from the warrior, then embed his axe deep into it's skull.

The paladin's aura didn't just give strength to physical attacks, I noticed the change in the magi as well. The sorceress shot lightning from her fingertips and the sorcerer cast a bolt of ice that both contained double the force of usual. The ice hit the creature's thick hide and shattered, coating it in ice dust, which conducted the sorceress' electricity and killed it.

I was curious to see if this magic of the paladin's affected me too, seeing as I had the same aura as everyone else. I concentrated on a grotesque monster lumbering my way and ordered my skeletons out of the way, curious to see how far this would go. I concentrated no more than normal and loosed a bolt of energy like normal. I watched as the one ball burned twice as bright, flew twice as fast and split into three attacks as it hit the monster, burning holes in it until it had fallen dead. Hmm. Interesting, and at the same time, disturbing. I couldn't put my finger on this, perhaps when I returned to my order, they would have the explanation that eluded me. After all, our council of elders had each fought paladins before.

The amazon and the assassin worked together to take down another monster. One of the misshapen slammed into the assassin, knocking her backwards, but she mind blasted the creature back, then loosed an enhanced kick, sending the monster right into the amazons lightning javelin. Impaled and defenseless, the amazon pulled out her sword and finished it off before removing her javelin, which was covered in pus and blood. She cringed in disgust then, shook the foul liquids loose of her weapon.

The druid's mutt had taken into an almost feral rage and with the power of the paladin's aura, lunged and grabbed one of the monster's tusks between its jaws and began to pull, thrashing its head wildly and pulling the demon off balance. The druid took that opportunity to deliver a punishing blow to the back of the creature's skull, killing it.

I noticed one of the other creatures had managed to elbow past my skeletons, disassembling one and knocking the others down with its superior strength. What an annoyance. I saw something useful that would end this quickly. I shot a bolt of energy into the corpse of the fallen misshapen at my feet and backed away quickly, a safe enough distance. Calling to the surface all the violent energy of death locked within the beast, I flicked my fingertips and the corpse exploded, blasting apart the cadaver and the encroaching demon.

With all of this enchanted monster's entourage dealt with, we turned our attention back to the paladin's battle. They clashed like titans, each blow meeting with a shockwave of force. This battle was going nowhere fast, until the paladin suddenly changed his aura like one changes clothes. The air around our bodies rippled and suddenly became a different shade of gold. My energy swirled around me in a fanatical manner, and it was as if I had suddenly become ten times more efficient. I noticed that this was true with the paladin as well. The monster's blows might have been powerful, but the paladin's were true and hit the monster in all the right places. In no time at all, he had taken the life of his adversary.

He turned to us, dripping with sweat. "Let's rest for a moment," he suggested.

"What's the matter paladin? Your magic take a toll on you like the rest of us?" I sneered.

He sighed. "It is not an easy thing to be a conduit of such high energy, no matter what type we are talking about. Nor is it any easy thing to fight a foe that strikes like an enraged bull," he said simply.

"Damn," hissed the warrior as he retrieved and glanced over his ruined shield. "I can't use this anymore."

"You can't fix it? We still have the horadric malus with us," the rogue observed.

"Rogue, were you not paying attention to what happened to him the first time?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Even if it wasn't too risky, we're nowhere near a forge," the druid pointed out.

"You have the horadric malus?!" asked the blonde rogue in shock.

"Yes, we do. We killed the Smith and took it from him," our rogue explained with pride.

"Incredible!" she squeaked and shot the paladin a furtive glance out of the corner of her eye like he alone had vanquished the demon.

"We'll have time for tales later, let's kill this skeleton and be on our way," the paladin said, once he had caught his breath.

"You're right," said his blonde fan girl. I growled in disgust. "He's just up ahead, near the altar."

We walked in that direction and just as soon as the amazon and the rogues picked him up, so did I. I heard his ghostly voice, giving demonic orders and rambling in the demonic tongue.

"Clearly he thinks he's in charge," I laughed. "That's about to change," I assured.

"He's magic resistant, so magic will be of little use here. Including yours, Piricus," the paladin pointed out.

"And he's got power over ice, so there's no way we can fight him in melee combat," the amazon pointed out.

"And don't forget super strong," said the blonde rogue.

"You're all thinking too much into this," I said with a smirk. "I'm going to make him as helpless against magic as a newborn babe."

"You can do that?" asked the blonde rogue in shock.

"One of my many talents. They are a ton more useful than most of you lot," I pointed out rudely.

"Says you," the sorceress growled. "I want to see this."

"And you will, bitch," I assured.

"Let's not forget the thirty or so dark ones running around next to him," reminded the amazon, lighting up the area with stars.

"I deal with that," the sorcerer said simply.

"Just what exactly are you going to do, Piricus? What do you want the rest of us to do?" the amazon asked.

"Nothing. I will kill him myself just to prove a point," I insisted. "Besides I want him in at least semi-good condition. Saves me the work," I replied.

"Speaking of work, get to it jackass we need to get moving," the sorceress growled at me.

"Patience is a virtue, isn't that right paladin?" I snickered and he rubbed his temple.

"Yes," he sighed, clearly not amused.

We walked further into the cathedral until we came into view of pews and a large altar under a canopy. The smell of blood was so strong I could practically taste it. I saw the paladin tense, then scowl at the sight of a mutilated body upon the altar, and the blue skeleton standing above it carving the corpse into pieces so that the blood, which was fresh and bright red, flowed into vats that had been inserted into the floor. All three rogues behind me hissed. Apparently they knew his latest victim. That, and true to the amazon's word, there were about twenty five small dark one demons running around the area uselessly.

"R' there any shamans?" the barbarian asked, taking stock of the scene.

"No," said the assassin, before the amazon could answer.

"Good. Then this be easy. Here I go," said the sorcerer and raised his hands up high. Ice began forming on the ceiling and then without warning a full-scale blizzard rained down on our enemies. The ice started falling like deadly missiles and skewered a few demons, but a majority of them were able to dodge and ran strait for us. However, they didn't get far, the three rogues shot them dead before most could reach us. All in all, only three made it past, screeching at the top of their lungs. The barbarian set down his axe, walked over and grabbed two of them around the head with his gargantuan hands and bashed them together, shattering their small, weak bodies. The third and final demon the amazon kicked into the air and killed in a spinning slash with her crystal sword.

All the ruckus had done my job for me. Bone Ash let out a shrill undead cry and before anyone had time to blink, it reached underneath the altar and hefted the immense, impossibly heavy thing into the air and threw it at us with whirlwind force. It was too big to effectively dodge the thing. Someone was going to get hit.

Maintaining a cool head, the druid stepped forward and whistled. Within seconds, a roaring tornado spiraled into existence and collided with the stone altar, not stopping it, but halting it and tossing it to the side where it landed atop several pews and crushed them flat into splinters.

The undead demon shrieked and began running in our direction. The paladin hissed and conjured a white-hot bolt of holy energy and flung it at the demon. It hit and exploded, knocking the creature back, but only slightly. "Hurry up and kill him Piricus," he insisted, a foul look upon his face.

I did what he said, I really wasn't in the mood to play. I summoned my power and cast the most powerful curse I could to lower Bone Ash's resistances. I could see it begin to take effect immediately, a black mist swirled around its body and I made my move. I conjured a bone spear and aimed carefully, wanting to kill without inflicting massive damage. I flung the spear and it hit the creature in the head, impaling it, but it did not stop it. The enraged creature walked over and snapped off the end of a solid oak pew and threw it back at me in response. I had to dive onto the floor to avoid being hit. I regained my feet and conjured another bone spear, aiming carefully. I put an entire half hour's worth of energy into the spell that I had been storing, and loosed it. This time, I hit my mark and severed the creature's skull from its neck. What I didn't expect was the violent, powerful blast of ice that rippled out and caught me right in the waist.

My sash and my bone armor on the lower half of my abdomen shattered into chips and icy-hot pain shot through that area. Blood began to pour out from along a rather deep gash there. I grabbed at the injury, putting pressure there, though it hurt like hell. I made to get up but found that I couldn't, my legs were trapped in ice inches thick.

"Piricus! Are you alright?" the amazon cried in alarm and ran to me.

"What does it look like?" I hissed, trying to sit up.

"Let me see," she said and made to move my hand.

"I don't need your help," I hissed at her, shoving her away. "And especially NOT YOURS paladin!" I yelled as he began in my direction.

"I grabbed a healing potion from in my belt and drank it. It worked, but not as well as I had been hoping. The area still stung like hell and blood was still leaking out, albeit much less and much slower. I took my dagger and began chipping away at the ice suffocating the blood flow to my legs.

"Nice going jackass. How are you going to get out of that?" the sorceress laughed.

The amazon frowned. "Vendra, help him," she said simply as she reached around, removed her own sash, and pressed it against my flesh while I struggled with the ice.

I hissed at her. "I told you to get away from me."

"I know you did. But you're still bleeding and you need help. Let us help you," she said stubbornly.

"Don't bother Chyemme. Let's see him get out of this one by himself," the sorceress scowled.

"Vendra, that's not the holy way. Remember forgiveness," the paladin said disapprovingly.

"And kharma. You wouldn't want us to laugh at you and ignore you when you needed help," the druid added.

"But I'm not a jackass that makes everyone miserable," she insisted.

The amazon made one more attempt to help me, and I actually pushed her back so hard she fell. She got up and scowled. "You know what? This isn't working and I don't have time to play games with you and your insufferable pride," she insisted and without warning she drew her sword, turned it around in the heel of her hand, and hit me in the back of the head with it. I didn't know what happened after that. My vision swam and everything went black.

I woke up groggily, and reached to the back of my head where it hurt. As memory came rushing back I looked up and around. My skeletons were all huddled over me, and so was my golem, looking at me with curious expressions on their dead faces.

"What the hell are you looking at!?!" I hissed and sprang to my feet. I nearly fell over when someone grabbed my arm.

"Hold still and you'll be fine," said the amazon.

I looked down, and found that my wound had been not only healed, but bandaged as well. No doubt, the work of the paladin. Not only that, but seeing as I was now standing on my legs, the ice had been removed from them. That was the work of one of the magi.

"I ought to kick your ass woman!" I hissed at her. "I didn't need help!"

"One of the ten commandments is thou shalt not lie, jackass. I can't believe I helped you. I should have just left you there. Remind me again, Scorpious why you talked me into it? I was enjoying his moment of silence," she griped.

"You like silence? How about I rot out your tongue, how about that for silence?" I growled at her.

"We don't have time for this," said the assassin. "Come back to your senses Piricus or we'll leave you here," the assassin said coldly.

I scowled and shook loose of the amazon's hold. Looking around me I hissed, "Don't think I owe any of you anything!"

"You will never owe us for doing the right thing," the paladin said calmly.

"Well there's no reciprocity involved as far as you and I are concerned. I would leave you there to die," I hissed.

"Listen to you, jackass. Shut up. Better yet, Chyemme, why don't you knock him out again? Maybe he'll be more agreeable," the sorceress asked hatefully.

"Don't anyone else touch me or I will kill someone," I insisted nastily.

"Not likely. Why don't you go get skeleton? Is it not what you come for?" the sorcerer said bluntly.

I growled and brushed myself off, still feeling cold in the legs. "You," I snapped at one of my skeletons, " are more useful dead." I snapped my fingers and it fell to pieces, which I then used and reconstituted to fit into the shape of armor, which I molded over my body to cover up the patch that Bone Ash's spell had taken. Then, without another word, I walked over and summoned up necromantic energy, a little more than usual, and directed at the corpse of Bone Ash. With a little weaving on my part, the creature sprang to life again, good as new with its head reattached. Ice rippled along its blue body and I knew it now had the same powers as when it had died. A perfect resurrection. It had only taken me years of practice.

"Is that thing still active? I thought you took their powers when you made them yours," said our rogue.

"Not when it's a revive and not a summons," the assassin said with ice in her voice. "That makes what he just did far worse."

"Better that thing is on our side now, than Andariel's," the amazon insisted.

"We don't have time to argue about this. Piricus, I'm assuming your capable of continuing?" the paladin said bluntly.

"More than capable, paladin," I sneered.

"Good. Then let's go. Lead the way to the catacombs, Sariah. Andariel knows we're coming. We need to get down there the fastest we can," he reminded.

"This way," said the blonde rogue as she smiled at him, leading us to the catacombs, our last stop on the way to the demon queen herself.


	20. Chapter 20

-1Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo 2 or their universe, I'm just goofing off for fun.

Queen of Hell

"This place just doesn't feel right," said the sorceress as she set foot into the catacombs.

"As opposed to how the rest of this Trag Oul forsaken place feels, sorceress?" I remarked rudely.

"It's strange," said the amazon, looking around.

"Wha's that, Chyemme?" asked the barbarian.

"We're the only things here. There is nothing else alive down here that I can detect, and that includes this general area, not just these rooms," she explained.

"Are you sure?" the warrior asked dubiously.

"She's right. I don't sense anything either," said our rogue.

"Nor do I," said the brunette rogue.

"Me either," the blonde agreed.

"I wonder why that is?" the sorcerer pondered out loud.

"It can only really mean one thing," the druid pointed out and the assassin nodded.

"Andariel has pulled all of her remaining troops to herself. She knows we're coming and she's putting up layers of protection around herself. We're going to have to fight an army of demons to actually get to Andariel herself," the assassin said grimly.

"Well, it's not really that bad," the warrior pointed out. "We either fight them here or fight them there. Either way we still have to fight, it really doesn't make that much of a difference."

"It does if Andariel herself is present along with all the demons. She'll be untouchable behind a wall of enemies while we're swarmed," the amazon objected.

"If she has pulled all of our enemies in, that may be an advantage for us," said the blonde rogue.

"Why's that?" the sorceress asked.

"Because I know the area she's holed up in well. I've been in there when I was still serving her. There are three chambers, each with a distinct set of doors leading into the next. Andariel is in the last chamber. The good thing is, with as little space as these rooms hold, with exception to the last, if there are a bunch of demons in there, they'll be easy to clear. We just blast them and since they're so close together, we're bound to kill them quickly," she explained.

"I truly hope this is as easy as it seems to be in theory," the paladin said wearily.

The blonde rogue gave him a bright-eyed smile. "Trust me, I would know. Until recently, I would have been one of those monsters packed in there."

"Everyone be on your guard, especially all of you rogues and you Chyemme. We don't know how Andariel corrupted these sisters and if she can work her strange magic over you now," the assassin warned them.

"What about you, Maria? Your abilities are largely mental as well. Aren't you susceptible too?" the amazon asked.

"Not likely. I've been through years of harsh mental training. I am in complete and utter control of my mind and always will be," she assured.

"Sariah," the brunette rogue began quietly, "how did she turn you?"

The blonde rogue frowned. "Andariel is actually quite charismatic, believe it or not. She attacks every weakness you have without ever striking a physical blow. Every dark corner of your mind, every unhappy memory, she'll turn against you until you believe that the only way to make the pain stop is to give yourself over to her control. Then you feel nothing, well, nothing that bothers you anyway, like hate and rage," she explained grimly.

"Ok. So all of you psychic women go to the field of flowers in your minds while this is happening," I said rolling my eyes.

"I'd rather focus on the battle," the amazon said bluntly.

"Ignore him," the sorceress said looking at me grouchily. "Everyone else does."

"Well, if the way is clear let's go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can rest," the paladin said and stepped into stride with our blonde guide.

We walked in complete silence for what seemed like hours of dark hallways and tombs. We took two flights of stairs and were about to descend a forth when I caught something in my peripheral vision. A tiny black shadow was lunging out of the darkness, issuing a high-pitched ramble of gibberish.

One of my skeletons stepped in the path of this on-coming blur, only to be torn in half as it jumped. I had just enough time to grab hold of the shaft of a very long very thick knife just inches from my face. I smelled the creature's positively foul breath as the tiny figure struggled in my grasp wildly, kicking and scratching with its free limbs and squealing like a piglet in pain. Hair tickled my arm as this furry thing glared up at me with hateful golden-red eyes. It hissed and blew in my face as another lightning quick blur darted out of the darkness. Without dropping this one, I kicked the encroaching demon and it went flying backwards into a wall.

"Wha' the heck is goin' on back there?" the barbarian asked, hearing the commotion and turning back to the scene, shining his torch in my face. The creature I was holding was about the size of a small child, it had ebony hair all over its miniature body and a mutilated ugly face with sharp fangs and feral eyes. I knew what it was, because these creatures came from my native land of Kurast. Rat men. But what the hell were these cannibalistic horrors doing all the way down here?

I saw yet another demon run at me, and taking the knife from the one in my hand, I threw him into his companion, skewering him on it's blade. The little fetish demon stopped it's charge and immediately began to squeak excitedly as it tore hungrily into the flesh of its once ally.

"That's disgusting," the sorceress said in horror as she watched the scene. Several more blurs streaked into view.

"We no have time to play games," the sorcerer said in irritation and without warning, a fire wall erupted in front of me, charring the little demons to the bone as they stupidly tried to run through.

"Are there more?" he asked, craning his head from his massive height to look around.

"That's all of them," the amazon affirmed, and without further ado we descended the last flight of stairs. We hadn't even hit bottom yet when I could feel the change in activity. I had no inner sight, but I could tell there was a massive commotion at the bottom of the spiral stairs.

"How many?" asked the warrior as he paused on the stairwell.

"A lot," said our rogue bluntly.

"Let us clear part of the way for you first, otherwise you won't get very far or have very much room to maneuver," the blonde rogue pointed out.

"With that many do you think you're even going to be able to make a dent?" the assassin asked them skeptically.

"They will if they have help from us," the sorceress pointed out.

"I will help out also," the druid volunteered.

"Piricus?" the amazon asked, looking at me as plainly as if she were telling me to help them instead of asking.

I nodded. "Try and leave their corpses salvageable, people. That would make life so much easier for me," I admitted truthfully.

"It's all about you, all the time," the sorceress growled.

"The last thing I'm going to do, is watch the damage I'm inflicting upon demons," the brunette rogue growled.

"Chyemme are you going to join us?" our rogue asked.

The amazon shook her head. "No. I'm down to my last handful of javelins, and I'm saving those for Andariel," she explained.

"Let's go then. We'll show you what sisters of the sightless eye are made of," the blonde rogue said with pride as she and her two sisters descended the stairs followed by myself the druid and the two magi.

I raised an eyebrow when we hit the bottom of the stairs. Like the rogue had said, it was packed to the busting point with demons. Mostly ghouls and misshapen. But, like she said, this was going to be easy. Without really a single cohesive command, we all began to blast with whatever ranged attacks we had. I shot teeth and bone spears, the two magi shot fire and lightning and the druid cast whirling winds about the area. The rogues all lit there arrows with fire and together between us, we slaughtered the entire room while they fumbled over themselves to get to us. The air of burning flesh made my nose wrinkle as I set about summoning skeletons from the more usable corpses of the fallen. There weren't as many as I would have liked, but when I was done, my number of minions had increased to fifteen and my golem.

I stopped temporarily and rested against a wall, careful not to let the others see that I was slightly weakened by this. A few more and I would be at my max limit without knocking myself out completely.

"Ready?" the paladin asked everyone from near the double doors to the next chamber.

Everyone nodded and he swung the door open. None of us could actually get through the doors, a series of molten fireballs came flying at us as a large group of miniature demons came scurrying in.

I heard a roar as the two magi must have conjured hydras in the next room. This caused confusion among the demons and gave some of us the opportunity to slip by, including me and my skeletons. I ordered them immediately against the closest opponents, focusing more "manpower" on the shamans that occupied the corners of the room. I scowled as a few of the miniature demons squealed in fright and made to open the grand doors into the next chamber.

"Stop them," I ordered my golem and four skeletons, which quickly intercepted them and killed them. I sighed in relief. That was the last thing we needed right now, for Andariel to come storming through that door when this room wasn't clear. Speaking of which, clearing the room was surprisingly the most easy thing we'd done yet. My guess was that we'd become accustomed to these things and they were becoming no more than a routine to us. Maybe that, or we were all at the top of our game and high strung for what came next. We'd have to plan our moves carefully and make every hit count. I conjured up five more skeletons, three mages and two warriors so that I had an even twenty, plus Bone Ash and my golem. I considered conjuring a shield, but I was too exhausted. As it was, I took a mana potion from my belt and drank it, just be on the safe side. I felt my spiritual energy recharge and I steeled myself and my warriors as we rejoined the group at the center of the room.

"Three guesses what's in there," said the sorceress, pointing to the last door.

"Ya, and the firs' two don' count," the barbarian affirmed.

It was then I noticed that there was something wrong with our rogue. She was shaking from head to toe. "What's the matter rogue? Please tell me you aren't scared when nothing's even happened yet," I grumbled.

"What?" the warrior asked, turning to her. "Laurella? Are you alright?" he asked gently.

"I just . . .I don't . . .no. No I'm not," she squeaked miserably.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, soothingly.

"I can . . . .feel her. Andariel. She's in my mind. I've never felt so cold or alone. She's so strong, she's blacking out everything else . . ." she mumbled and she began to teeter dangerously on her feet.

"She's what? Laurella she's not here. Not yet. It's going to be alright. It doesn't matter how strong she is, because we're stronger," the warrior assured.

She didn't look convinced. "I don't think we are . . ." she said with a tear sliding down her cheek.

"Come on darlin' snap outta it," the barbarian said, putting a massive hand on her shoulder. "Ya've come this far. Yur far stronger than most other people I know and I know lottsa them. Hang in there 'cause we're with ya, and if ya won' do it fur us, then do it fur yur sister. She deserves to be avenged and you ought have a hand n' that," he stated truthfully.

"Why am I so weak?" she croaked at last.

"Because you're the most emotional," I snapped.

"Shut up Piricus, you're not helping," the sorceress hissed.

"I can't. I can't do this. I've never been so afraid," she yelped.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, rather the realization that something else is more important," said the paladin.

"I can hear her . . . .she's in my head," she cried and began shaking violently.

"Scorpious can't you do something?" the blonde rogue asked, eyeing the situation desperately.

"I can try," he said and walked over putting his forehead against the rogues. "Calm down Laurella. Hear my voice," he instructed. "Feel me next to you. Use your mind. Can you feel it?" he asked calmly.

"Barely," she whispered.

"That's not going to be enough. Let me try," said the amazon and walked over, placing a hand on the rogue's temple as the paladin backed away. For a second she closed her eyes and a strange expression crossed her face, then she hissed. Something unseen blasted her backwards, right into the barbarian's arms.

"Chyemme! Are you alright?" the rogue yelped in shock.

"Fine," she grumbled as she dizzily got back to her feet with a little help from the barbarian.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE MONSTER! BE GONE!" the rogue shouted at the top of her lungs and shook her head so violently I thought for a moment it might actually fall off. I could almost feel the change, as if something physical lifted from her. Then I knew that the rogue wasn't faking what just happened and that Andariel really was assaulting her mind, because without warning, the doors in front of us swung open to reveal the shadows beyond. Then, came a voice like none on earth, full of hate, malice and power from within them.

"_**COME IN MAGGOTS**_," the voice rumbled.

"Well?" the barbarian asked with a slight unease.

"We go in," said the warrior and instinctively put himself in front of the rogue. Everyone clutched their weapons and readied for what was about to happen. Surprisingly, nothing attacked us immediately after we went in. I could see some flaming braziers on the wall, and through that light, I could see the numerous dark one demons lined around the chamber like a grim advance guard. It wasn't long before the demons turned into corrupted rogues. They didn't touch us, only ushered us further into the chamber. We stopped and every fiber of my body radiated with the disgusting, revolting, vile presence of evil.

There in front of us was a massive throne, made completely of human flesh and bone at least twenty feet tall. And on it, sat the most repulsive creature I had ever seen. Andariel stood twenty feet tall, and was a pale orange-green. Her skin had a rough texture to it and was scaled in places, most prominently her feet, which ended in talons. Her body was that of a naked female, though a distorted one at that. Her blood red hair stood on end, adding to her already massive height and behind her back sprouted four scorpion- like tail projections. The demon queen though, had a surprisingly human face, save for the blood red eyes that scoured every last inch of us as if we were a meal.

The demon queen looked us over, raising an eyebrow. _**"SO. THESE ARE THE UPSTARTS THAT DARE CHALLENGE MY RULE. WELL, I MUST SAY, FOR MAGGOTS, YOU HAVE GOTTEN QUITE FAR,**_" she observed with a snort.

"Is there a reason you haven't attacked us yet? I hardly think you just want to talk to us, demon bitch," the warrior hissed at her boldly.

Andariel tilted her head to get a better look at him. "_**AH. I KNOW YOU, MAGGOT. AND SO DOES THE MASTER. HE HAS SEEN YOU IN HIS MIND**_," she said simply as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

"Your master? You mean Diablo?!" the warrior hissed. "I hope he knows me, because he ought to know I'm going to save my brother and be the end of him!" he bellowed.

The demon queen laughed. _**"YOU? DEFEAT HIM? NOT LIKELY. ANY OF YOU. YOU SHALL NOT GET PAST ME. NOT EVEN THE MASTER'S HOST'S LOVER COULD STOP ME. SHE MADE THE CHOICE I NOW GIVE TO YOU. SERVE THE MASTER OR DIE,"**_ the demon queen rumbled with a laugh.

"His lover? My brother didn't have a lover, he was always too busy for that sort of thing. She must not have been very tough or worthy of him if she fell to you!" the warrior shouted in fury.

"Stop it!" the rogue yelped at him.

He turned to look at her, surprised. "Laurella?"

"Don't talk about my sister that way!" she yelled emotionally.

The warrior looked like someone had slapped him in the face. "Your sister and my brother were lovers? Blood Raven and Marcus?" he asked with shock.

"Your brother never told you, did he? I don't assume you even saw him after the battle at Tristram," the rogue said quietly. "But my sister fought with him. She fought with him and another mage against Diablo at Tristram. Together the three of them got to face Diablo himself. She told me all about Marcus and how much she loved him. And that's why she fell isn't it . . . ." she whispered more to herself than anyone. "She fell because she found out about what happened to Marcus and it ripped her apart. YOU!" the rogue thundered at last, making her voice reverberate around the chamber. "YOU DID THAT TO HER!" she snarled at Andariel and raised her bow.

The demon queen roared with laughter. She was laughing so hard, I thought she might fall out of her chair. "_**FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT DID YOU, MAGGOT? I CONFESS I THOUGHT I'D SEEN THE END OF YOU WHEN I ORDERED YOUR SISTER TO KILL YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR FRIENDS. BUT THESE NEW MAGGOTS YOU FIND YOURSELF WITH, YOU'RE RESILENT. OH LITTLE MAGGOT, I WISH YOU COULD HAVE SEEN THE BEAUTIFUL ANGUISH, THE EXQUISTE TORTURE THAT KNOWLEDGE WROUGHT UPON YOUR SISTER. IT WAS PRICELESS. BUT PERHAPS NOW YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS NO ESCAPE. YOU WILL EITHER SERVE OR DIE. THE CHOICE IS YOURS**__" _Andariel taunted.

Tears welled up in the rogues eyes, but not because she was scared. I had never seen anyone so angry in all my years. Well, I lied. The warrior looked equally pissed.

"I'd rather die and let Piricus raise me from the dead!" the rogue shouted, enraged.

_**"RAISE YOU FROM THE DEAD? AH YES, ONE OF YOU IS A NECROMANCER. YOU HAVE TAKEN ONE OF MY CHILDREN FROM ME**_," she said, glowering at us as she looked around.

I stepped forward and took a sarcastic bow. "That would be me bitch. He's a very nice piece to my collection," I added and twirled my finger so that the skeleton that used to be one of her zombies waved at her and began to dance in circles.

She didn't like this at all. She sprang from, her throne and clenched her fists. Shaking the earth as she went. "_**INSOLENT MAGGOT!**_" she hissed violently.

The paladin stepped in front of all of us. "I think what Piricus means to say, is that your reign is at an end demon queen! And it wasn't short enough!" he snarled with conviction and in a blink golden waves were rippling off our bodies, filling us with the paladin's defiance.

The massive demon's eyes narrowed. "_**"SO BE IT. DIE MAGGOTS!**_"

The earth rolled as she charged at us with alarming speed, along with the rest of her entourage and forced us together.

"Time for a new plan, paladin," I hissed as I summoned up energy and threw up a solid bone wall in front of us. Andariel easily could reach over it, but her minions would have to go around it.

"And what would that be?" he asked skeptically.

"He's right about one thing," the assassin said as she moved away from the wall. "Spread out."

"Sovellis!" the sorceress shouted and together the two of them called forth fire hydras on either side of them to blast their enemies from the sides.

The druid turned around behind us and slammed his palms down on the dirty ground. Seconds later, the earth rolled, then split, as he created a fissure behind us that the demons charging us from behind ran into. It was at that time, my bone wall broke and the demons charged us.

"Eye on the prize," I reminded myself and ordered my army into battle, leaving my mages beside me. I took to casting beside my mages and killed probably five demons before the fighting over took my line. I was forced to use my dagger in melee combat and I watched as the mages were easily destroyed, save for Bone Ash, which, with its super strength, picked up demons and hurled them at Andariel's feet. The merciless Queen stomped them flat in her rage and hurry to get to us.

"There are too many of them!" the brunette rogue yelped as she too was forced into melee combat, having been overwhelmed.

"I'm going to give you an opening, rogues! Take it because it's the only one you'll get!" I yelled loudly and concentrated on my energy. I thrust it into the crowd at large around us and in moments, my curse began to take effect. The demonesses began to shriek and cower in fear, then run from the hallucinations I had conjured before their eyes. Despite Andariel's outraged shouts, the demons did not heed her and continued to flee, giving our rogues and our mages time to gun them down. The amazon finished off the last of the demons, leaving only Andariel. She bellowed in rage, an ear-piercing sound and lunged.

The paladin jumped headlong into the fray along with the warrior and the barbarian. Together they began hacking at what parts of Andariel they could reach, but they might as well have been hitting a wall of stone. Their weapons didn't do so much as scratch.

Like a horse annoyed with summer flies, Andariel swatted the warrior so hard that he flew backwards into a wall and slumped there unconscious. This enraged the barbarian so much that he charged in without thinking. Despite the paladin's better attempts to shove the massive man out of the way, the demon queen picked him up in her massive hands and began to squeeze the life out of him. He yelled in pain as the paladin tried in vain to free him.

The paladin called upon the spiritual energy of the room and all the souls in it to imbue his attacks with elemental power and with an empowered weapon, he rushed the demon queen again.

Meanwhile, the amazon, the rogues, myself, and the mages all threw everything we had at Andariel at the same time. It was pitiful how weak our attacks were. The amazon's lightning javelin hit and bounced off, along with the two lightning spells from the magi that were supposed to channel through the javelin. The rogues all lit their arrows on fire, but the arrows neither penetrated Andariel's skin nor spread their flame. The assassin had thrown a fire bomb at her, which exploded and made Andariel laugh claiming it tickled.

I was beginning to think we'd never save the barbarian, when at last, the druid's bird dove into Andariel's face and pecked at her eyes, seemingly the only vulnerable part of her. The demon hissed in pain and dropped the barbarian to swat at the druid's bird. The large man landed with a thud and the paladin abandoned his useless attack to grab him and pull him away from the rampaging demon.

Andariel didn't take long to get the better of the druid's bird, she shot out her tongue, a black, vile thing that snaked like a whip and wrapped it around the bird's wing. She pulled the creature into her mouth and bit down, nearly severing the bird's wing. The druid didn't think either, he just reacted. He went from human to a man wolf in a flash and along with his mutt, they charged the demoness. The druid savagely ripped into her legs as best as he could with his wolf's snout while his familiar bit into her other one.

They must have felt like mosquito bites at best. The demon queen snapped out her taloned foot and caught the druid's wolf just under the forearm, slashing into his flesh and sending it bleeding and sprawling, howling in misery. The druid took a brief pause and summoned a living ivy from the ground that spread like wildfire over the demoness' body. I recognized the vine to be of the poisonous variety, and watched as the vine intelligibly stabbed into the demoness with barbs. She grunted, struggled with minimal effort, and then snapped the vine like a twig.

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Andariel leaned over and quick as a striking spider, lashed out at the druid with one of the barbed appendages on her back. I could smell, see, and even taste poison as she injected the druid. He didn't even have time to yelp before it took hold. I saw his muscles twitch and lock and he fell backwards. In her interest in her new prey, she spit out the bird, which fluttered pitifully down to the ground where it lay its head down and didn't move.

The paladin was the first one to react. He raced to the druid's furry side and threw his shield up just as the demoness came crashing down. She spiked through his shield with one of her stingers, and kicked at them with her feet. The paladin waited until the last moment, then stabbed her in the center of the underside of her scaled foot. She howled in pain and stumbled backwards, shaking the earth.

The paladin closed his eyes and began chanting something, and suddenly our auras changed colors. A steady green light pulsated from our bodies. Personally, I felt no change to myself, but what this new aura did was obvious for the druid. A cleansing light washed over him and I watched as black fluid began to ooze out of his pores onto his fur, and then onto the ground. In a moment, he sat up, ruffled his fur on the back of his neck, then tackled the paladin out of the way of an oncoming blow from the infuriated demon queen.

"_**"YOU'RE QUITE A PROBLEM, LITTLE PALADIN**__!" _she roared and stormed toward him and the druid. She smacked the druid with her foot, and then stomped down on him. I heard a sickening crunch as who knows how many bones of his snapped. He howled in pain and started to writhe on the floor. Then, with great care, the demon queen grabbed the paladin by a claw underneath his armor and hoisted him into the air so that he was level with her face.

She licked her lips. "_**HOLY MEN ARE DELICIOUS. MY FAVORITE,**_" she cooed and opened her mouth to swallow him whole.

In that opening the amazon expertly loosed a lightning javelin into the demon queen's mouth. She hissed and began to cough violently, dropping the paladin with a thud.

The paladin picked himself up just as the demon queen regained herself with fire in her eyes. "_**YOU WILL DIE!**_," she bellowed, and stabbed at him with one of her barbs. The paladin dodged that one, but was pushed right into the path of another. With all four of them stabbing at him, it was only a matter of time before one actually hit him. I watched the paladin's doom approach as Andariel reared back to strike a final blow. Then, without warning, a blur dived in front of him, pushing the paladin out of the way. I heard a sickening scream from two sources and smelled the blood as it fountained into the air. Andariel hissed and grabbed something that had become caught on one of her barbs. It was the blonde rogue, Ash Wind. She had just given her life for the paladin.

The scream had been hers, and her cousin's. The brunette rogue continued to scream, then dropped her bow and began to cry.

"Pull yourself together!" the assassin snapped, and raced past her on her way to assist the paladin, whom was still in mortal danger.

Speaking of which, the paladin looked as if he himself had just died. His eyes were misty and a scowl darkened his usually peaceful face. He was so shocked, that he almost forgot to move. Almost. The demon queen grabbed at him and this time was met by the assassin who stabbed one of her katars into the demon queen's palm. The assassin carefully refolded and nimbly dodged aside Andariel's next series of attacks. But it was becoming clear that she was tiring and none of her attacks were doing damage. Quick as a striking cobra, the assassin shot out her katars and managed to plunge one of them deep into Andariel's leg. I watched as she tried to suck out some of the demon queen's energy only to have that backfire on her. She was blasted backwards into a nearby wall and went limp.

The paladin was left to fight alone, and he continued to strike uselessly until he wore himself out. With a swish of her foot, he too went flying a good ways back out cold. Andariel went forward and made to stomp on him, but the amazon ran ahead and grabbed him, pulling him to safety just in time.

The demon queen wasn't amused. I expected her to kick the amazon or hit her or something, but she leaned down and blew a kiss into the amazon's face, spewing a poisonous cloud of gas as she exhaled.

I saw the effects immediately. Like the druid, every muscle in the amazon's body began to paralyze. She began to falter in her steps and then hobble. That's when the demon queen reared to physically strike.

I don't know why, but something in the back of my mind told me to act. Maybe it was because I knew I still had a life debt to repay the amazon. This seemed as good a time as ever so without further thought I lunged after her and disassembled a few of my skeletons to recreate a bone shield around me, which I pulled her into. A monstrous force slammed down upon my shield and I heard Andariel roar, but the bone held. I turned the amazon around in my arms to look at me. I noticed that her eyes were beginning to roll back into her head.

"Look at me!" I demanded and she shivered. "You're going to have to drink this," I said, pulling a vial of the strongest antidote I had with me from my pocket. I had been saving it ever since we left the amazon isles, but hell, the time to use it was now. She coughed.

"Look at me damn it! Drink this or I'll slit your throat and pour it down that way!" I growled and slammed the bottle against her lips. I tilted her head back some, but she spit up the little bit of liquid I tried to pour down. She shivered and I knew I was losing her. Another smack on my bone shield brought the grim reality that I was racing against time crashing down.

"Come on! Come on, don't do this to me," I growled, shaking her. She continued to loose consciousness so I did the one thing that I thought could jar her. "STAY WITH ME CHYEMME!" I yelled her name as loud as I could. It worked, she blinked as if I had just slapped her. She opened her mouth but she couldn't speak. Damn, I growled. The paralysis had already gone so far. I saw her flinch, but I didn't have time for reservations. I took my dagger and sliced a thin line across the side of her neck. She struggled violently against me, but I grabbed her and looked her right in the eyes.

"I'm trying to help you damn it, TRUST ME!" I hissed and on that, she did calm down some. I watched as instead of blood, black venom began to ooze from the cut in a trail down her throat. She coughed and sputtered some. And then her breath came in ragged gasps.

"Drink it this time, woman, we don't have much time, this isn't going to hold for much longer," I said, gesturing with my eyes to the bone shield that was cracking under the force of Andariel's blows.

The amazon nodded and with a little help from me, she downed the liquid. She coughed and then went limp in my arms for a second. Then she stood up.

"Piricus, you just saved my life," she breathed.

"Don't look at me like that. I just returned a favor, that's all. We're on an even keel now, you and I. Don't expect anything else from me," I said flatly.

"Still, just the same," she mumbled and before I could really do anything about it, she slid right up to me and kissed me square on the lips.

Of all the things to be embarrassed about, this was one of them. I felt like this time I was the one who was paralyzed. It was a strange sensation. I'd kissed people before, but this was different somehow. Part of me wanted to kiss her back, but the other side of me, the more reasonable side of me told me to push her away. I wasn't very good with people. Period. And the last thing I really needed was a relationship, something that would make me weak in the eyes of others. Being so closely attached to someone could only end in disaster. Especially right now, if my head wasn't in the game we could both die in the next thirty seconds. Besides, I thought grimly, if she finds out who I actually am, it would send her running for sure. Then again, maybe not. She was a strange person, this amazon Chyemme.

I went to push her back just as the shield broke and turned it into a shove as I flung her out of the way of one of Andariel's barbs.

"What the heck?! Piricus, Chyemme, you don't have time to be making out!" the sorceress growled as she stepped up to her sorcerer companion.

"I wasn't--" I started, but stopped as Andariel leaned over to pick me up. "Get over here!" I roared at my skeletons and my golem and together an army of thirteen rushed the queen of darkness with weapons raised high.

Andariel laughed so close to my face the vibrations almost knocked me over. _**"PATHETIC. TO THINK YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD BEST ME.**_" She then proceeded to swipe with her massive hands, sending bones and chips scattering from every direction as she demolished my army, save for Bone Ash. It alone was able to parry her massive strength. She looked the mage over and clicked her tongue, then stomped down on it with her gigantic feet, shattering it to pieces. So much for my army. Before I knew what happened, the gigantic demoness had picked me up and was digging her long talons into my shoulders. I squirmed to get free and succeeded in only freeing one arm, though it was the arm with my dagger.

_**"I SHALL ENJOY CRUSHING YOU INSOLENT MAGGOT, THEN RAISING YOUR CORPSE AS MY OWN**_," she purred and blood began to pour from my shoulders.

"Not today, bitch," I growled and focused on my dagger and the one thing that could always save my life. My venom. It had been a long time gift of mine, my knowledge of poisons and how to conjure them. So talented was I, that I was at the top of my class at age eight. I knew how to command poison before anyone else did and I already knew enough about it to be a near master by the time I could actually raise a skeleton. That's why my fellow necromancers called me the Emerald Prince. It was a name I intended to up hold tonight. I focused on all my energy and summoned everything from corpse gases to flower pollen that I could think of from the nether and charged my dagger with it. Then I took aim and hit the only thing I could remotely reach, the crook of Andariel's shoulder. My dagger wouldn't have bitten flesh, save for the acid-like poison I had imbued it with. The blade sank deep into the demoness' shoulder and she let out a foul cry before abruptly dropping me. I landed ungracefully in a heap.

"Stay away!" I shouted at the amazon, who was racing toward me. She heeded the warning and ducked under one of Andariel's flailing stingers. The demoness clutched her shoulder, then returned to the assault with renewed vigor. I was vaguely aware of someone grabbing me and in a blink I was several feet away, next to the doors we had come in through.

The male mage cursed loudly as he watched the sorceress and the amazon narrowly avoid a crushing blow before they materialized next to us.

"What now?" the amazon asked grimly, looking around at our fallen comrades, whom they had all gathered at our feet. Only myself, the two magi, the two rogues and the amazon were left. "Nothing we have hurts her," she remarked gravely.

"I know something that will," said the sorceress slowly and the sorcerer glared at her harshly.

"No! It shall not happen!" he rebuked harshly.

"Sovellis, we don't have a choice!" she hissed.

"You could die!" he growled.

"If I don't, then we're all GOING to die no questions asked," she countered.

"What the hell are you two babbling about?" I growled, in no mood to listen to a lover's quarrel.

"She want to draw upon ancient magic. One clan has banned due to danger involved. You must open self up to the elements. You become one as the elements. Often times, you not come back," he growled, clearly displeased.

"Even if you could do that, Sorceress," I said slowly, "you have to have an object to channel that much energy through that acts as a catalyst to release it as well. Nothing we have will work for that," I pointed out.

"You're wrong," she said simply. "We have this," she said and pulled out the gleaming horadric malus.

"That would work, but Sovellis is right Vendra, it's too risky," the amazon agreed.

"What part of we're going to die if I don't, don't you understand? I'd love to hear a better idea if you have one. Don't forget that the clock is already ticking. Look at Cloudyous! He shifted back and that means some of his bones aren't broken anymore, but he's still in critical condition. If we don't get him to a healer soon, he'll die!" the sorceress insisted.

The amazon looked grim. "Do you honestly think you can do this without losing yourself?" she asked quickly.

"I should be able to, if I tie myself to something here," she assured.

"That would have to be a strong tie," I observed. "Don't look at me," I added sarcastically.

Nobody was surprised when she turned to the male mage. "Sovellis . . . " she said quietly.

He sighed. "You know what you asking of me. You asking for a tie that can no be undone," he said seriously.

"I know . . . " she whispered, sounding like she was afraid she had insulted him.

"Just what exactly does this tie entail?" the amazon asked seriously.

"It is no small thing she asks me," the male mage said gravely, "she will join our thoughts and souls. And if one of us harmed, both of us harmed," he explained, trying to emphasize the point.

"So basically from now on, anything that happens to one of you will happen to the other? You'll be able to read each others thoughts and so forth?" the rogue imputed from behind us.

"Yes," the sorceress affirmed.

"You want to say your wedding vows while we're all gathered here?" I asked sarcastically. "The way I see it, you won't be able to take anyone else as a mate with him in your head," I pointed out, truly glad that I would never be in that position.

"Shut up, jackass," the sorceress hissed. "This isn't funny."

"Whatever you decide it needs to be quick, because Andariel's headed this way," the amazon hissed and grabbed her last remaining javelin.

The sorceress turned to her companion desperately. "Dargo vonna, delanith. Dera fanna vofr sze," she pleaded with him in a language I didn't understand.

He nodded and sighed heavily. "Yavr dis dattona, feisty one," he responded and quickly took her hand. Without so much as a second thought, the sorceress took a small dagger and slit her wrist and his in one swift stroke. They began to chant and as they did, their blood swirled like ribbons around their wrists until they became sanguine crystals that absorbed into their skin at the height of their chant. A strange multi-colored light wrapped around them and in an instant, they broke apart.

"It is done," the sorcerer exclaimed and flexed his wrist.

"Guys I need you to distract her while I channel the energy," the sorceress said seriously. "And Sovellis will have to stay out of this now that he's tied to me," she added quickly.

"Sure. Give us the easy job why don't you?" I growled.

"Look at it this way. You're still awake, Scorpious isn't. Now is your chance to show him up," the amazon said with a sigh.

"The thing about that is, I was kind of hoping he won't get up. But since you mention it, I dare say you're right. I'm surpassing the paladin at the moment. I intend to keep it that way," I growled.

"Come on," the amazon said with a smile. "You go right, I'll go left. Let's see if we can make her dizzy."

"What do you want us to do?" our rogue asked, eyeing her brunette sister with sympathy.

"Stay back and guard the others," the amazon instructed.

Our rogue nodded grimly and nudged her comrade, whom hadn't budged from her spot on the floor. "This isn't what she would have wanted. I know you don't want her to see you like this, now that she can see everything in heaven," the redhead comforted.

The brunette rogue sniffled.

"Come, stand with me and we will extract our vengeance," our rogue said with conviction, and notched her bow. "Go on, Chyemme, Piricus. We'll cover you," she assured and helped her sister in arms to her feet.

"Oh goodie. Here we go. Amazon," I said seriously, stopping to look her in the eyes.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Don't get tagged this time. I only had one potion," I warned grievously.

"I won't," she assured and with a nod, we both started in a suicidal dash towards the demon queen. I didn't have the luxury of paying attention to anyone but myself, I watched every footstep, every jump, as I weaved along with the amazon in and out of the demoness' legs dodging stingers and barbs. Flaming arrows rained from behind us, although they did little more than annoy the demon queen.

I ducked as a stinger barely missed my head by an inch, spraying a thin line of poison in the air. I whisked my hand through it and an idea hit me.

"Rogue!" I shouted loudly, "hit her when she---" I shouted, but ducked from where another attack would have taken my life.

The redhead must have gotten my message, because she took careful aim, and with flawless timing, she shot a flaming arrow directly into the tip of one of Andariel's stingers just as it was spraying poison and, just as I was hoping, the noxious fumes were flammable and instantly combusted, blasting one of Andariel's stingers clear off her back.

The demoness roared in pain and clutched at the stump, just as another flaming arrow hit her another of her stingers and that one exploded also. However, the pain must have been momentary, because Andariel soon shook it off, and, ignoring us, ran straight for the two archers.

She never reached them. A rippling ring of ice froze around Andariel's feet. And then a ring of lightning appeared on the outer rim of that, followed by a ring of fire on the outer most edge. I looked up in amazement at the dazzling being the sorceress had become, no longer human but a vessel of pure energy. Her shape shifted from one of shimmering ice, to a being made of lightning, then to one of fire. Light danced around all her many forms in a range of color.

I heard the sorcerer shout and the shimmering being raised the horadric malus high over head and then came smashing down on it, hitting the outer most ring of fire. There was a brilliant flash of light as the inner most ring shot up and froze Andariel into place, then the ring of lightning coursed through the ice, and then lastly the fire exploded in a blinding array of red and orange. There was a loud, unearthly scream and the whole floor shook with a violence of multiple earthquakes before volcanic vents opened up in the floor and spewed fire everywhere.

I took cover along with the amazon to the far wall and waited for the area to stop shaking. I saw the demon queen's body, or what was left of it, fall to floor in flames. The area continued to ripple, though not from flame as the minutes wore on. The sorceress' ethereal form was so powerful, it was tearing rifts in the surroundings. I could actually see the distortions of energy.

"Sorcerer!" I thundered as loud as I could over the commotion. "Stop her or we'll all be killed!"

I almost laughed at the irony. It was at this moment, the assassin chose to come to. She sat bolt upright from where she had been laid against the floor and the first thing that she saw was the elemental the sorceress had become. She scowled and grabbed for her katar, leaping to her feet immediately. She lunged forward.

"What have you done?!" she hissed hysterically and made to spring onto the sorceress, but she was blasted backwards by the sorceress' sheer power. She got to her feet and I felt her spiritual energies shift, knowing that she was becoming partially present in the astral plane. So this was how assassin's withstood the power of the elements. . .

"No Maria don't!" the amazon cried and grabbed the assassin's wrists.

"She'll destroy us all!" the assassin yelled. "In all my life I have seen this happen only once before and the mage nearly wiped out an entire city! I have to kill her before she destroys everything here! There is a reason this magic was banned!" she thundered. "And that's what I do! I hunt those that break the rules!"

"But she's bound to Sovellis! He'll die if you kill her!" she insisted.

"He'll die if I don't!" the assassin assured.

"Do not move, mageslayer. She is one with me. She knows who she is. She can come back," the sorcerer said calmly as he walked over.

"You," the assassin hissed, but other than that, she held her tongue. "You have ten seconds to put this right your way, or I'll do it mine," she threatened, I knew she meant every word.

The sorcerer walked calmly out towards the place that the elemental sorceress was floating.

"Delanith, frouth dafta agantimei," he called out in his deep voice.

"What did he say?" the amazon asked.

The assassin shifted restlessly. "Come back to me dear one, your job is done," she translated.

There was a deep humming noise as light rippled from the sorceress' icy body as she transformed from ice to fire to lightning. A shockwave of energy blasted everyone off their feet including the sorcerer, whom got up looking concerned.

"I knew this would happen. Damn if I hadn't been knocked out then! Three, two, one---" she hissed and in a flash she disappeared and reappeared next to the sorceress midair. She made to cut into her with her katars, but within seconds, flesh remerged from underneath the energy and the sorceress' original form fell limply from the sky. Instead of stabbing her, the assassin did a twist in mid air, landed on her feet and then caught her, and set her down on the ground.

"I thought you were going to kill her assassin," I said skeptically.

I heard the sorceress mutter something, then she and the sorcerer both blacked out.

"She's defenseless. I will not strike someone while they're out cold," she insisted harshly.

"She's back to normal now, there shouldn't be a problem, should there?" the amazon asked in concern.

The assassin sighed. "Magic of this magnitude is bound to have some consequences we cannot foresee. Time will tell," she said flatly.

"What did she say? Before she passed out?" the amazon asked.

The assassin sighed. "The evil queen has fallen."

"Well, that much is true. Andariel is dead," the amazon said with a gesture to the grotesque corpse.

"That was a STUPID, RECKLESS way of going about things that could have destroyed everything we worked so hard for! Vendra could have destroyed half this continent!" the assassin hissed.

"She saved our lives," the brunette rogue said quietly, bringing our attention back to her.

"And that's the only reason I'll let her live for now," the assassin said flatly. "Where is everyone else?"

"Around," I said bluntly and gestured to them on the floor.

"We can't wait for them to come around," the amazon said as she raced to the druid. "Cloudyous can you here me?"

The flame-haired man groaned. "I wish I were dead, but yes, I hear you," he croaked in anguish and clutched his side. "Hey Belthem," he mumbled almost soundlessly as his injured wolf limped over and laid his head down atop his master.

"Where's bibo?" he asked pitifully.

The amazon sighed. "She's alive, but she's in desperate need of help," she admitted truthfully.

"Where's Scorpious?" the druid groaned in pain.

"Out cold," I laughed harshly, just as the holy man rolled over and grumbled something.

He sprang to his feet in alarm. "Andariel!" he yelped.

"Is dead, paladin. No thanks to you," I said snidely.

He looked around, disoriented. "Dead? What happened. How did I?" he mumbled in confusion.

"You blacked out," the amazon explained.

"I . . .DAMN!" he cursed so loudly it made everyone jump. Then he calmed himself and resumed his normal demeanor. "How is everyone?" he inquired weakly. "Where's Sariah?" he asked quietly.

"She's dead," the brunette rogue said quietly with tears and pointed to a broken body lying fifty feet away in a pool of blood.

The paladin put his head in his hands. "My God. . . . That should have been me . . . .why did you let this happen?" he muttered miserably.

"God had nothing to do with it, paladin. It was the girl's own choice. It's disgusting how you influence people so much they would die for you like she did. Where was your God when Andariel skewered that girl?" I sneered.

He snarled and I blinked and so did everyone else as he actually took a swing at me. "SHUT UP PIRICUS! THIS IS HARDLY A TIME FOR YOUR SASS! AN INNOCENT GIRL DIED HERE TODAY!"

"And I hope you never forget that, paladin," I said bluntly.

"Piricus! That's enough!" the amazon hissed. "He's going to be a long time in recovering from this, and you don't need to rub it in like lemon juice in a wound," she snapped.

"I've actually said my peace for right now, believe it or not," I said simply, stunning everyone else.

"Scorpious," said the amazon gently, "The others need your help. Cloudyous is hurt very badly and we need you to stabilize him before we can move him. And Bibo needs your help too. Ryelass, Alminus, Vendra and Sovellis are still out cold," she pleaded.

The paladin sniffled and I saw a tear actually run down his face. "Alright. You're right Chyemme. I need to save those I can. But--" he said, turning to the devastated brunette rogue, "I will never forget what she has done for me. And I am indebted to your family for saving my life," he said solemnly.

The brunette rogue fell to her knees. "I always expected to be the first one to go, not her. But, you owe me nothing, seeing as it was you that saved her from a fate worse than death. If only for a brief moment, I had my cousin back. She died a death of honor, saving another. I will see it to it, that she is honored with our greatest heroes and that legends are sung of her for years to come," she sobbed.

"Come with me," said our rogue, with tears in her own eyes. Well will go and clean the body up as best we can and take her back with us."

"What about the others?" asked the amazon looking around.

"I will see to Cloudyous immediately, then to his raven. Despite what he thinks, people come first and always will," the paladin said gravely.

"The others are not harmed, save for Alminus who has some nasty bruising, but he'll live," said the assassin bluntly. "Chyemme," she began, "take these and put them under their noses. It should bring them to," she said and handed her tiny cloth packets that I could smell from here, though I knew not what they were.

"If you say so," the amazon said quickly and set to it.

It wasn't long before we were joined by the others. The warrior and the barbarian supported the sorcerer and the sorceress, both of whom looked barely able to stand. It wasn't long before the paladin had tended to the druid, though he still couldn't stand.

"Your injuries are too severe for my skills," the paladin said with regret. "Your life is in no immediate danger, but it is critical that Akara see you as quickly as possible. Too many of your bones have been broken for me to set them all in place," he admitted.

The druid sighed. "If nothing else, the pain is bearable now. Where's--" he began, and the amazon handed him his raven, with a bandaged up wing.

"I couldn't completely heal her either, it was all I could do to save the wing," the paladin explained.

"Wow paladin, you seem to be losing your edge," I remarked rudely.

"I have my limits," he said looking at me with distain. "Alminus, give Vendra to me, you're going to have to carry Cloudyous," he said simply.

The large man nodded and handed over the sorceress to the paladin and gently picked up the druid with his injured raven in his lap.

"Come on, Belthem," the druid said, and the mutt walked forward with its own bandage having been applied by the paladin. The mutt whined and walked so close to the barbarian's side it was practically rubbing against him.

"Are we ready to continue?" the paladin asked looking around.

"Yes, we are," said the rogue as she and her brunette sister in arms came around to us carrying their fallen sister.

"Then let's go," said the paladin and pulled a scroll from his belt and said the words that transported us back to the rogue encampment.


	21. Chapter 21

-1AN: Hey guys! Thanks as always for reading and reviewing. Since this story became longer than I intended, I'm going to make it into several books. This chapter will mark the end of this book, the new one, which kicks off act 2 will be called Lumos Invictus: Sands of Ages, so go ahead and look for that. Otherwise thank you all for your support and I hope to hear from you all then and a special thank you to Branmuffinpower for your support, motivation, and for the spiffy art =)

Exodus

Chyemme

The second I felt my feet hit the grass of the rogue encampment, I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. The sun was burning in orange twilight, a beautiful sight if ever there was one. _I'm still alive, _I thought. And because of Piricus . . . . I smiled slightly at the thought. For all his talk when it came down to the wire, we could depend on him, of that I was sure. And for all the sass he'd given me, all the tough guy attitude, he had just saved my life when others would have abandoned me. Maybe it was as he said, he just did it so that we would be even, but even then . . . I laughed inwardly. I had no idea what had come over me when I kissed him, perhaps it had been gratitude, but the look on his face when I kissed him, that was priceless. I wish someone could paint a portrait of that look so that everyone else could have a laugh too. I would have thought he'd slap me or push me or something, but he had just kind of gone rigid as ice and not really moved. That in itself told me mountains about him.

"Damn!" I heard Cloudyous hiss miserably as Alminus shifted him ever so slightly.

"Sorry," the large man said apologetically.

"Damn's right," Vendra grumbled, barely audible. "I've never felt this much like shit in my life."

"You and me," the sorcerer groaned, apparently suffering because of their newly shared bond.

"You're lucky you're not dead," Maria growled.

"So are you, assassin," Piricus pointed out snidely. "At least the sorceress was useful in this case. For once," he snapped.

Vendra almost tripped and Scorpious pulled her onto her toes. "I died. I must have, for one, because I hurt like this, and two, because that jackass just defended me."

"Don't get used to it, sorceress. You're still mostly useless to me," he started.

"You've been upgraded in status," I said with a laugh, making Piricus scowl at me.

Then, we became surrounded in a flurry of people as a rogue spotted us and called out to the camp at large. Kashya came around the corner, with her chain mail clinking as she walked swiftly to us, a look of expectation on her face.

"Well?" the commander breathed anxiously.

Scorpious nodded at her. "The demon queen is no more," he said simply.

Rogues all around us cheered loudly and threw up their hands in triumph and even Kashya cried out with joy.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Andariel is finally dead! I . . .I may have misjudged you outlanders. No, I shall call you what you are. Heroes! I misjudged you heroes! You're a true testament to the noble spirit that has inspired our order for generations!" she praised, with a wide smile on her face, the likes of which I had never seen from her before. Her smiled faded however and was replaced by one of concern as she eyed us more thoroughly.

"Ah, but here I am a hindrance. Some of you are injured. Come, we will go immediately to Lady Akara," she said seriously.

"Not me, Commander," said Callie mournfully, making Kashya turn sharply around.

"Callie?! I thought you were dead! And what's that? Is that Sariah?" the Commander asked, surprised.

Callie nodded with tears. "Yes ma'am. It's her."

"But she turned!" Kashya exclaimed in shock.

"Scorpious saved her," said Laurella quietly.

"And she saved me. That's how she died. Saving my life," Scorpious admitted ruefully.

Kashya's back straitened as she surveyed the scene. "Well then, we shall rejoice tonight for her sacrifice. We will honor her with the greatest funeral rights and we will sing songs of her valor and tell her tales with honor. You should be proud Callie. Tonight you and she gain immortality in our legends. Through them, she will live on. And, I know this is hard, but take peace in knowing her soul now rests with Tyreal and his likeness in heaven where it belongs," the commander said earnestly, though I could see that she too was grieving for the loss.

"Janae, Heidi, Carol," Kashya began, "Go with Callie and Laurella and prepare the pyre for Sariah, when this is done, come report to me."  
All of them nodded and left. "Now then, to Akara," said Kashya and together we all made our way to the High Priestess' dwelling. Lady Akara, in her purple robe, was waiting for us eagerly.

Scorpious nodded to her and she smiled, breathing in a huge sigh. "Finally we may rejoice! We owe you all a debt we can never repay. I only hope in time, we will be able to rebuild our order," she said, glowing with joy.

"You owe us nothing," said Scorpious. "We did what any decent people would have," he continued.

"Paladin, you are mistaken. Not just anyone would have gone through that Trag 'Oul forsaken mess," Piricus growled and Akara nodded.

"He's right. What you have done is no small task. It is a deed unheard of since the time of the Horadrim. But come, I see you have injuries. Let me see to them immediately," Lady Akara said sincerely and Alminus walked over and placed Cloudyous on the ground at her feet.

The wise rogue leader sighed as she looked him over. "This is serious. I don't know if I will be able to completely mend all of your injuries," she said gravely. "I will have to reconstruct some of your bones completely and that will take a great amount of energy.

"Take some of it from me," Scorpious offered nobly.

"You've done all that you can, noble paladin. My own energy shall be efficient, but this will take time," she replied.

"Her first," Cloudyous croaked and shifted ever so slightly to nudge Bibo, since he couldn't physically reach up and hand her to Akara.

Lady Akara frowned. "Your need is dire," she said gently.

"She comes first," Cloudyous insisted stubbornly.

"Just do it. The druid's not going to rest until you do," Piricus pointed out.

Akara nodded gently. "Very well. If it will give you peace of mind. Let's see what we have," she said gently and unwrapped the bandage to reveal a severely mutilated wing, held together only by determination and a few exposed tendons.

Akara sighed as Bibo began to squirm. "My lovely, you have endured a crippling injury. Be still now," she said gently and moved her aged hands over the area. Subtle blue light rippled over the area and I saw skin appear and wrap around the wing, but only superficially. Feathers molded from the skin to cover the area, albeit very thin ones. Akara looked her over and gently moved Bibo's wing between her fingers. She sighed.

Cloudyous strained to get a better look at them. "Is she alright? Were you able to heal her?" he asked desperately.

Akara frowned. "I was able to repair tissue damage, but not muscle damage. This wing, I fear will always be weaker than the other. So weak in fact, and I will not lie to you, she may never fly again," Akara said seriously.

Cloudyous looked like someone had just stabbed him. "What?" he breathed. "Do you have any idea how cruel a fate that is for a bird?" he groaned, now in mental anguish as well.

"Aye. I do. But it is not a certain fate. She may prove strong enough to yet recover. All I can say is that she will not fly any time soon for a long while yet," Lady Akara admitted.

"Don't give up hope," Scorpious comforted.

Cloudyous sighed as Bibo jumped from Lady Akara's arms and tried to fly onto the ground, but succeed only in fluttering pitifully like she were weighted down by rocks. She squawked in despair.

"It will be alright," Cloudyous said and made to stroke her feathers, but succeeded only in twitching his hand. He let out a loud curse, making Akara jump.

"You may not be so lucky either, Lord Cloudyous," she said grimly. "I must ask before I begin, is there anything else that requires my immediate attention?" she asked looking around.

Ryelass looked at Alminus' nasty bruises, but Alminus shook his head. "I'll be fine until ya can get ter me," he admitted.

Scorpious looked to Vendra and Sovellis. "What about you two?" he asked in concern.

"Take me to my tent. Let me rest there," Vendra assured. "This isn't a physical injury anyone can cure," she admitted.

"We meditate and regain strength," Sovellis assured, and with that they left toward their bunks.

"Chyemme," Akara began softly.

"Yes ma'am?" I asked respectfully.

"Your mother has sent you another letter," she said, reaching into her robe pocket and handing me a folded piece of parchment.

"Thank you my Lady," I acknowledged and took the paper from her. I started in the direction of the tent, and to my surprise, Piricus didn't say anything snide. Perhaps he was like the rest of us, tired and sore.

I arrived in the tent to find Vendra already there and resting. She was sleeping, so I didn't bother her. I opened the letter and read:

_Dearest Daughter,_

_Much time has elapsed since our last encounter and I hope this letter finds you well and that you are making good use of a our ceremonial shield. I write to bring you tidings of your homeland, for I feel they may effect you, far though you are. The Queen has fallen under mysterious illness it seems and dark are her dreams of late. It could just be the fever, but she tells me that something stirs to the east. As you are in the west, I'm not sure I understand what this means for you, but maybe you would know better than I. Anyway, as always I am wishing you well and pray for your safety. Akara tells me that you have become quite a sensation among the rogues and that your services bring honor to your people and to our sacred bond with the Sisterhood. Best wishes my daughter, good luck to you on your undertakings and come home soon._

_Love,_

_Sheltia_

I folded the paper and placed it in my trunk, then set about writing a reply in the little light I could see by. I withheld nothing, for these were important tidings that I brought. I told her, with pride about Andariel's defeat, and informed her of a decision I had just recently made. I would not be returning home as I had anticipated. My vision had brought me to the west, and now I could see that this was but the first step in something far larger. Diablo himself was on the move. Terror was stalking our world in silence and who knew when calamity would strike? It was my duty, I felt, to do everything I could to stop him. Not to mention Ryelass was my friend. I wanted to help him in his quest with every fiber of my being. So my mind was made. I would be traveling east with the others.

I sealed the letter and made my way to talk to Lady Akara about having it sent home. She was sitting in her hut, next to Cloudyous, who to my relief, was actually sitting up and talking with her. I saw that she was busy and turned to leave, but Belthem whined when he saw me, bringing their attention to me.

"Chyemme, my dear, what brings you here?" Lady Akara asked me, unoffended by my presence.

"The matter of this letter," I said truthfully, holding it up and walking over.

"You will need that sent, will you not?" she asked knowingly.

I nodded. "Yes. But my lady, I am curious. How have you been getting these letters so frequently? It is many months journey to the amazon isles and I have seen no amazon messengers," I admitted.

Akara laughed. "Magic, of course my dear. The rogue sisterhood still retains enough of it for things like that, though we are far from mages," she explained.

"I see. Then I trust this request is not a great one?" I asked politely.

Akara smiled. "Even if it were, I would feel obligated to oblige you for the great service you and your friends have rendered to us this day and even before that. As I said before, we owe you a debt we can never truly repay."

"It is payment enough that you will be able to live in peace now and return to your homes," I said humbly.

Cloudyous laughed from where he sat. "You sound like Scorpious, but I agree with you wholeheartedly."

"You seem better. Are you well?" I asked him in friendly concern.

He nodded. "I am much better thanks to Lady Akara's skills. Unfortunately though, it seems myself and Bibo are going to be kindred spirits in more ways than one for a while," he explained and wiggled his left arm, which was in a sling.

"You will recover, right?" I asked him uncertainly.

He sighed. "To be honest, it probably will never be the same. When I do regain the use of it, it probably won't have it's full range of motion," he admitted.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely, and Cloudyous actually laughed.

"Sorry? Why would you be? I'm not. I am EXTRORDINARILY lucky, Chyemme. I came within a very second of my life and recovered from injuries just now that probably would have killed anyone else, were I anywhere else but with Lady Akara. God smiles on me tonight," he said with a smile.

"So what now?" I asked him sincerely.

He nodded. "I came and did what I set out to do. I answered the bidding of the western winds and I righted the wrongs that bitch Andariel cast against nature. But, to be honest, now that I know about Diablo, I can't return to Tur Dulra in good conscience. I will go East and with any luck, help Ryelass in his quest," he admitted, mirroring my thoughts exactly.

"But you're injured," I insisted. "You can't fight."

He chuckled. "I can't, but Belthem can. And since we're connected, through him I will be able to see what's going on and work some magic through him as well," he explained.

I nodded. "I'll go speak with Ryelass and tell him about your support and mine. In this, we are the same," I assured.

Cloudyous nodded. "I believe Lord Cain wants to speak with us. We can tell him then when we're all gathered," he suggested.

I nodded. "Now that I am certain I am going, I will need supplies. I need more javelins," I remembered. "Do you need anything while I'm there, Cloudyous?" I asked politely.

He shook his head. "No, but you should see to it that she gets the Horadric malus. I think Vendra still has it," he admitted.

I nodded. "I shall," I replied and made my way back to the tent. Vendra was actually awake when I walked in. She groaned.

"I'm too sore to sleep," she complained.

"I'll bet. What you did was amazing. I bet it took everything you had out of you," I said sympathetically.

She rolled over. "So what are you doing in here? Tired too?" she asked.

"No, I actually, I came for the Horadric Malus. Cloudyous said you still had it," I admitted.

Vendra sighed. "No, I gave it to Alminus and he said he would take it to Charsi. I would have gone myself, but I'm just so damn worn out. I feel bad," she said guiltily.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I can feel Sovellis suffering as well and I know I did this to him. He keeps assuring me it's okay though," she said quietly, though she didn't sound convinced. "I can hear him," she said tapping her head gently.

"You didn't really have much of a choice, and I'm sure Sovellis understands that. Besides, of all the people to be bound to, I think you'd be happy it was Sovellis, you two were close anyway," I admitted.

She sighed. "Yeah, but not that way, believe it or not. He's more like my brother than anything. It is a strange thing to be bound to your brother. I wouldn't know though about having a real sibling, I was an only child before I was inducted into the Zhan Esu," she explained. "But you're right. Better him, than someone like Piricus," she said with a scowl at the necromancer's name.

"He's not such a bad guy," I said in his defense.

Vendra rolled her eyes. "That's right, you like him. I don't know what you see in him, and I wouldn't have kissed him for all the world," she snorted.

I grinned embarrassedly. "I have no idea what came over me. I think I was just so grateful to be alive I didn't know what else to do."

"Okay. So you weren't in your logical mind," she laughed. "I'll forgive you then by reason of insanity."

I laughed. "You'd actually be mad at me if I was with him?"

"He doesn't deserve you," she said bluntly. "And I always make sure my friends are treated fairly."

"You consider me a friend?" I asked in surprise.

Vendra rolled her eyes. "We've only been fighting together every day for a month now and traveling together every day before that experiencing near death situations, guarding each other's backs and trusting each other like friends. If that's not a friend then I don't know what is," she said truthfully.

I smiled, touched. "I'm honored. So what now? What will you and Sovellis do from here?" I asked.

Vendra sat up and rubbed her temple. "We'll go to Lut Gholein like we originally intended. We still have the last part of our mage trials to complete. We've been sent to find a man named Drognan the Elder, he's the one who will give us our last task," she explained.

I laughed. "After what you've been through even before you got there, you should already be called a master mage. You killed Andariel, and that's something not even the Horadrim can boast about," I pointed out.

"It does seem like a technicality doesn't it?" she asked sarcastically. "But I hope we have a long ways to rest before the jewel city, because I'm not sure I'm going to be up to anything for a while," she admitted.

"What do you think your last task will be?" I asked. "Do you already know?"

She shook her head. "No, you never know until you get there. Usually, it's a quest that serves the greater good though."

"Like you haven't already done tons of those," I laughed.

She sighed. "Tell me about it!"

It was at that moment, Maria came walking in. She gave Vendra a glare. "Feeling better?" she asked slightly icily.

"I'd feel better knowing that I wasn't sharing a tent with someone that actually went to kill me not that long ago," Vendra shot back with venom.

"You were out of control," Maria hissed, "and out of line!"

"I had no choice. And as Piricus would say, you were useless, _assassin_," she growled on the last word.

"Don't sass me, if you know what's good for you," Maria said bluntly. "I spared your life because you changed back at just the right moment. But now that I know you're willing to break the rules, I'll be watching you like a hungry hawk watches a mouse. If you even think about trying something like that again, I'll cut you down. The world doesn't need another corrupt mage," she snarled.

"Maria, she saved us," I said gently.

"Be quiet, Chyemme. You have no idea how serious what she did was," Maria snapped at me.

"Tell me you're not coming with us to Lut Gholein," Vendra growled.

"Unfortunately for you, yes I am," she said bluntly.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Because I've been informed of a gathering of necromancers there. One of them is rumored to be Prince Darkblade," she said briskly.

"You know what?" Vendra said rudely. "I actually feel sorry for this guy."

"Sympathize with a killer do you?" Maria said coldly.

"He's no different from you," she remarked snidely.

"You have no idea what you're saying," Maria hissed at her.

"Don't I?" Vendra sneered.

"Guys," I interrupted quickly.

"What?" they snapped together.

"Lord Cain wanted to see us," I said truthfully.

"Then we should go," Maria said sharply and left the tent without another word.

Vendra scowled at her as she left. "I agree with jackass of all people. She is a bitch."

"Are you coming?" I asked her.

She groaned. "In a minute," she said truthfully.

"Do you need help?" I asked her honestly.

"None that you can give," she sighed.

"See you in a bit then," I said, giving her an encouraging smile and leaving. I decided to wait to visit Charsi until after Deckard Cain had finished speaking with us.

It wasn't long before everyone had gathered by the campfire, save Laurella, but everyone had tired expressions. Lord Cain was brief and to the point.

"My friends, you have done an incredible thing today. But, I'm afraid the world is still in peril. Diablo is seeking something in the desert, and we know not what, only that it will herald doom for us all if he finds what he is seeking. It is for that reason, I implore you to render your services once more for the good of the world. I know, young Ryelass, that you are going to see this through to the end. And you also, Lord Alminus because you are the closest of friends. Therefore, I will accompany you on your journey, lending what assistance I can. It is my duty as the last of the Horadrim," he explained.

"You seem to be forgetting, old man," said Piricus somewhat rudely, "that some of us have other things to do than chase shadows in the desert."

"Of course. I meant no disrespect to any of you and should you choose to help, it would be greatly appreciated, but it is of course, not required.

"What's the matter jackass? Afraid of Diablo?" Vendra asked with loathing.

"I am on a mission for my own order before anything else, otherwise I'll get my own ass kicked. Vengeance comes after that," he hissed, making everyone blink.

"Whoa. Piricus respon's ter a higher power," Alminus said with a laugh.

"Be that as it may, Ryelass it would be my honor to accompany you and lend assistance any way I--" Cloudyous began, but Bibo squawked and Belthem barked. He smiled. "Correction, WE, can."

"Wha' 'bout yur arm?" Alminus asked seriously.

"It won't be like this forever and Belthem has agreed to fight for me while I recover," he offered.

Piricus scoffed. "You have an excellent ally warrior. A mutt," he laughed snidely.

"Better him, than you," Ryelass snapped and he bowed to Cloudyous. "I except your offer with gratitude."

"I will also go with you. For I would be ill at rest if I don't," I offered and he smiled. He walked over and kissed my hand.

"Thank you, Chyemme," he said truthfully.

Scorpious nodded. "I am supposed to be returning to my order, but I will send word to my superiors of happenings here. Undoubtedly, whatever else they have planned for me pales in comparison to this and can wait. I will help you see your quest through until the end," he offered.

"I appreciate it," said Ryelass a little uneasily, "but," he said crisply, "remember what I told you about getting in the way."

Alminus nudged him. "Tha's not a good way ter thank someone fur their help," he chided.

"I know, I know," Ryelass grumbled, but Scorpious waved it off.

"You should haven't anything more to worry about, seeing as Piricus is returning to his order," Scorpious assured.

"Good riddance," Ryelass hissed.

"How we getting there?" Sovellis asked. He too, looked the worst of all us, along with Vendra.

"Warriv has been so kind as to allow us passage free of charge in his caravan," Lord Cain explained.

"Well, that makes matters easy," Cloudyous said with a smile.

"Yes, it is my honor and the least I can do for heroes such as you," said the deep voice of Warriv as he rounded the corner and bowed before us.

"Still, thank you for your generosity," Scorpious said sincerely.

"When do we leave?" Piricus asked, bored.

"The caravan will leave in three days. Time enough for everyone to fully rest and prepare," Warriv explained.

"That's a good thing," Vendra said with relief.

"I believe however, there is another matter we must attend to tonight," said Warriv grimly.

"And that would be?" Piricus said bluntly.

"The funeral of Sariah "Ash Wind" FeatherJay," Warriv answered solemnly.

Deckard Cain nodded. "Ah yes. I heard of her sacrifice. It will be the least we can do to show our respects," he said nobly.

"Where is the funeral being held?" Ryelass asked.

"They are burning the body, because the rogue cemetery has yet to be tended to after your battle with the Blood Raven," Warriv explained, "But the procession is being held on the riverside."

"Then let us go," said Scorpious with a saddened expression. I thought vaguely that he seemed to be taking this even harder than Callie, whom I'd only seen briefly since our return to camp.

We all turned to leave, even Piricus, which surprised me most. "I thought you didn't like her," I said to him quietly, falling behind the others.

"I think it was stupid the way she died. Especially for the paladin of all people, but if I don't go, I'll insult the rogues and I'm too damn tired to cause a fuss," he grumbled.

"That's a lot, coming from you. You must be dead on your feet for you to be this agreeable," I said, raising an eyebrow. "That could have been you, you know. You could have died, saving me," I added seriously.

"No I wouldn't have. If I seriously thought I was going to die, I would have left you," he said, though not with his usual spite.

I snorted. "You say that. But I don't think you actually mean it."

He gave me an odd look. "I meant what I said. We are even now. Don't expect me to run to your rescue ever again," he said stubbornly and a tad bit cold.

"I don't intend to ever be in a situation like that again," I said honestly.

He actually smirked. "Now, there's a good plan right there. You're learning, albeit slowly."

"You didn't say anything," I pointed out.

"About what?" he asked, slightly irritable.

"When I kissed you," I admitted.

"What did you want me to say?" he said flatly.

"Anything," I laughed.

"How about this then, touch me like that again and I'll curse you until you rot," he said bluntly and I laughed.

"I've heard that before, and chances are, it won't be the last," I teased.

"Woman, I'm serious. You have no idea what you're getting into," he said dangerously and his eyes flashed that eerie green.

"Do you do that on purpose?" I asked him, curious and not intimidated in the least.

"Do what?" he growled.

"Your eyes. When you're irritated or mad, or trying to prove a point your eyes just kind of glow," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't know. I don't watch myself in a mirror," he said bluntly.

"You're self-centered enough," I pointed out.

"And don't you forget that," he said coldly.

By this time, we had arrived at the gathering around the funeral pyre and we listened and watched as Lady Akara spoke, then Kashya, then Callie and Laurella, and then lastly, Scorpious, who lead the gathering in a prayer, and then he said a blessing over Sariah's body and kissed her forehead. I actually saw tears run down his face. It was strange, for a man like Scorpious, that rarely ever lost his composure. Once he stepped back, so did everyone else, while Callie took the torch and lit her cousin's pyre, crying her own cascade of tears. Everyone stood still and bowed their heads in respect, save Piricus, who just looked on apathetically until it was over.

The crowd departed to the campfire, where a feast was held in ours and Sariah's honor. I stayed for a little while and had some ale along with Alminus and Ryelass, then left with Alminus to find Charsi. When we went to the forge, she was waiting there with a huge smile on her face.

She leaned up and kissed Alminus on the cheek and with a mischievous smile, he turned into it, making it a full kiss on the lips. Charsi blushed, then pulled apart from him and laughed. Then she embraced me with a full-strength hug, which squeezed the air out of me with as strong as she was.

"Charsi, I can't breathe," I squeaked.

She grinned. "Oops! Sorry! I guess I'm just so excited that you all came back mostly unhurt and that Andariel is finally defeated! I couldn't help myself!" she exclaimed with joy.

"Well, I got somethin' that'll make yur day, pretty lady," Alminus said with a smile and he reached into his pack and pulled out the gleaming Horadric Malus.

I didn't think Charsi could get any more excited. I was wrong. The blacksmith jumped up and seized him once more, this time giving him a kiss on the lips. "My hammer!" she exclaimed like a child at Yule.

"Told ya I'd get it fur ya," he said with a smile.

"This is wonderful! Now I'll be able to start making magical weapons again. As promised, tell all your friends I'll use it's magic to strengthen your equipment," she said, giddy.

"Ya make it sound so easy," Alminus laughed. "Ryelass had a go workin' with that hammer. Nearly blasted 'im outta his boots."

Charsi looked surprised. "Really? I've never had any problem with it."

"It's a sign that you were meant to have it," I assured. I pulled my ceremonial shield from my back. "Charsi, can you imbue this?" I asked, handing it over to her.

She looked it over and smiled. "Of course. You ought to know that I can't predict the effects of the magic, but it will always be for the better. This is a nice shield," she said with pride.

I nodded. "Let me know when you're done and I'll have Lord Cain look it over to see what he thinks the malus did," I replied.

"Will do. What about you, ya big bear?" Charsi asked Alminus playfully.

He laughed. "Well, my 'ole axe could use some spiffin' up," he said, lifting the huge weapon off his back.

She nodded. "I can do that for you, handsome. I'd be happy to. Anything else for you guys?" she asked.

"I needed more javelins," I said honestly.

Charsi laughed. "Girl you spend those things like gold. There's another bundle over there."

I nodded and paid for them.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Not really, jus' yur company would be nice," Alminus said flirtatiously.

Charsi giggled. "Well, you're welcome to stay. Say," she said twirling the malus in hand, "I think Laurella's going to be ecstatic. I can fix her sister's crossbow with this," she said happily.

"Do you want me to let her know?" I asked.

Charsi shook her head. "I'll tell her tomorrow, she's busy with Lady Akara right now."

I nodded. "Speaking of tomorrow, I'm tired. I'm going to go get some sleep," I said, thanked Charsi and headed back to the tent to turn in for the night.

The next two days were a blur, with everyone busy packing and getting ready for our trip across the Aranoch Desert. I had gotten my shield from Charsi, and taken it to Lord Cain. When he examined it, he had found that my shield was now resistant to more than physical attacks. It been enhanced to shield me from the elements as well. I have to say though, one of the most pleasant surprises was one day walking into our tent to find a monumental heap of gold there in a large trunk at the foot of my bed. The rogues had ventured into the forgotten tower and claimed the Countess' fortune. This trunk full of coins was my share, and more gold than I'd ever seen in my life.

Before I knew it, we were loading everything into Warriv's wagons. We had just about finished when Laurella came around the corner with her crossbow, a broad smile on her face. She picked up a trunk and put it in the wagon next to mine.

"You're coming with us?" I asked with a smile of my own.

"Yes. Akara wanted the rogues to have a hand in Diablo's defeat and as an ally to those that would fight him. She figured that since I already knew you all so well, I would be the ideal candidate. I'm so excited!" she squeaked. "This is a great honor!"

"You're right. Are you sure you're up to this? I mean you are still pretty young," I pointed out.

"I'm eighteen as of today. A woman in every right," she said proudly.

"It's your birthday?" I asked with a smile. "Then remind me later and I will show you a technique I know as a present," I replied, making her smile.

"I will," she said happily.

"The caravan is prepared!" Warriv yelled aloud to all of us. "We may now journey eastward to Lut Gholein!"

"That's our cue," I said and jumped into the back of the wagon.

I saw Alminus and Charsi embrace. Charsi actually sniffled some. "You come back, you hear!" she said , not wanting to let go of him.

Alminus smiled at her and pulled the ring he had gotten when we cleansed the den of evil off of his finger and gave it to her.

"That's a promise, pretty lady. I won't forget," he said sincerely and I saw her take something from around her neck and give it to him.

"Come on barbarian," Piricus yelled irritably. "Your love life is holding us up."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut it. I'm comin'" he growled and with that he joined us as the caravan started to move.

I watched as the rogue encampment started to fade away with Lady Akara and the others waving to us farewell.

Laurella leaned back once we were out of sight and took a deep breath. "This is the first time I've ever been away from home," she admitted.

"It's okay. You have your friends with you," I assured. "And we take care of each other."

"This will be an adventure then," she said with a smile. "Diablo here we come."

To be continued in Sands of Ages . . . . . . . . Thanks guys!


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